Somewhere Along the Wayby GrimPInkamenaChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 1'Why do I like this show?' you had thought to yourself as the opening theme to My Little Pony rolled in, after an hilarious intro where the pink maned pegasus brutally kicked her friend and carefully leapt out of her cottage window. She wasn't going to any dragon migration, no sir. It was the same thing every episode. The feeling that you should not have been enjoying the show as much as you were crept in as you heard the woman starting to sing the My Little Pony theme. The feeling quickly subsided though, once the intro was done. And you slowly forgot that you were watching a show where the target audience was that of young girls. Thinking it didn’t really bother you anymore, you looked down on your "Loyalty" T-shirt. You weren't worried about showing it off in public, though maybe you should have been. You probably subconsciously chose this particular shirt because there were no actual ponies on it. From afar it would look like a shirt with fancy rainbow colors on either sides of the word "Loyalty". However, if you looked closer, and knew what you were looking for, you'd be able to see that the colors on either side outlined a pony, and the multicolored pattern was its mane. 'Discreet,' you thought while smiling, again satisfied with your choice. With the episode’s ending theme kicking in, you looked at the time. "Two forty eight?! Shoot!" A horrid feeling sank into your gut as you remembered that you had to get up in five hours, and you weren't even tired. You shot a glance over at the four empty cans of Redbull sitting besides your computer screen. 'It’s all your fault. God damn it'. Deciding not to punish the cans for their crime, you headed off to bed hoping to get some shut-eye before the alarm would again annoy you with its existence. The alarm went off at eight. Instinctively, like any other morning, you got up and walked over to the clock that sat on the other side of your room. You slapped it on the off-button, then headed back to bed. Rolling over your duvet, you grabbed it and wrapped yourself in a cocoon, nearly drifting back into your comfortable coma. With a sudden jerk, you snapped out of it. 'Get up you lazy bum,’ you thought and rolled back out from your soft hibernation cone. Ten minutes in the shower and no breakfast, just a glass of orange juice rushed down your dry throat, and you were ready to leave. You threw your bag over both your shoulders, then looked at your cellphone. 'Half past eight, you better not be lying to me Mr. Cellphone'. Discovering that you had actually fallen asleep for ten minutes with no perception of it made you feel a bit annoyed. And now you might not even be able to catch your bus. You did though. Staring out the window on the bus ride to university was always a good time. It was probably one of your favorite times of the day except some of the stuff you did at the computer. Watching series, playing games, reading fanfics, all had their merits. But the half hour drive to university and back was something else. You'd fantasize about anything that you was into at the time. And now, you were in Ponyville. Partying with Pinkie, or cheering on Rainbow as she was showing you her newest daring trick. Your world was boring. Your mind would always wander someplace else. You did well at school, but you weren't exactly a good student. You would study for tests and exams a couple of days in advance, and it seemed to always work out somehow as you manage to stay above the class’ average. Projects were barely finished on time, but they were, and that’s what's important, right? That was the predicament you were in right now. You had a project going on with some of your fellow classmates, and they were more proper on those things than you. Completely understanding about their position, you still would have liked them to relax a little. You were on your way to a meeting that morning, about the composition of the final report. Which was due in six weeks. The bus was driving along some corn fields when your thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud burst of noise. 'Thunder?' Puzzled, you looked outside, and for the first time that morning took notice of the weather. Clear skies. The sun was sneaking up from behind the hills to the east, having its light break up to an array of purples and oranges. Looking at the sight in awe, you nearly forgot about the loud bang you heard just seconds ago. You looked around at the other passengers on the bus to see how they were reacting to this. They were all doing the same, looking outside and at each other to find out what it was they just heard. This was a problem you had with the human brain. If something happened that one couldn't explain, the brain tells you what was the most logical explanations, and you just pick one, or several of them, and continue with your day. That was what happened after the bus ride, and it bothered you. You knew that it was probably construction work, or a snapping piece of material somewhere, or a thunder happening under clear skies. You had heard of those, "heat lightning" or whatnot. Even though you knew this was not a supernatural occurrence you just experienced, you wished with all your being that it was. With hands on your pockets you started walking from the bus stop towards the university. It was about a five minute walk, but today it felt a lot shorter. Still deep in thought you turned ninety degrees to your left, you had reached the building that was your destination. You subconsciously decided that today you would be walking around the back of the building to get to the main entrance, which was on the far side. The walk was just as long behind the building as it was walking in front. But the back of the old school was much more tranquil. A nice little path that laid in the middle of a grassy floor separated the school building, two meters off the path to the left, and a thick forest, two meters to the right. Or maybe two and a half, the path wasn't a straight line, and probably on average the path was closer to the school than the forest. Perhaps it reflected that the students who decided to walk here, tended to stay a little closer to the school, since the forest might look threatening. With that in mind, you stepped off the path and walked right up besides the edge of the forest with your hand stretched out, feeling the leaves and branches slide of your hand and arm as you walked. The meeting wasn't before half past ten. You looked at your cell phone who told you that it was nearly quarter past nine. You let out a sigh, knowing that you were going to have to wait for the stupid meeting for over an hour. It's better to be too early than too late, but perhaps taking the next bus would have been a good idea. At least it would have given you time for breakfast. You brushed off the feeling of annoyance and moved towards the room where you were supposed to meet. You could always spend some time thinking, like on the bus rides, staring out the window. You knew the room number, and you knew you read it right the first two times, but still checked a third time to make sure you were in the right place. It would be troublesome to walk in on an on-going lecture. Slowly opening the door and peaking into the room, you discovered that it was empty. You strolled in and over to one of the tables that stood out compared to its neighbors. It was larger and its frame was a metallic red, in contrast with the surrounding black-framed tables. You threw your bag on the floor by the chair you chose fit to be yours for the day. Sitting down you noticed that this room was a bit different than the other classrooms you regularly visited for your lectures. The guitars on either side of the blackboard, and sheet music posters hanging on the walls, indicated that this classroom was likely a music room. You didn't even know there were any music related courses at this university, but paid it no more mind as you looked behind you and saw a big piece of furniture in the back corner of the room. An old and worn looking piano. You smirked as you stood up and walked towards it. The lid on the piano was wide open, exposing all the keys, making it irresistible to touch. You played a simple tune that you could easily play with one hand, and was pretty surprised at how well it the piano sounded compared to how it looked. You would've played another short tune, but in a flash you suddenly felt dizzy. "Wha..." left your mouth as you stumbled back to your seat by the big table, knocking into random chairs on your way. Your head didn’t hurt, not in the slightest. It was just a numbing feeling, making your head feel light. As quickly as the feeling came, it subsided. You put your head in your hands to rethink the experience. 'It was probably just the lack of sleep', you thought. 'Yeh, that’s gotta be it.' After the meeting, you would be going straight home, and go to sleep. You lifted your head up from your hands and looked towards the blackboard. Your eyes widened. An expression of shock was the only reaction you made at what you saw. A dark circular... thing, was hovering not more than a couple of feet in front of you. After a quick look you backed off, rising and taking a step back while still holding the back of your chair. You stared at the dark circle for about a minute, expecting it to disappear, but it didn't. Calming down, you wanted to check this small object out. From looking at it you could clearly see it growing in size, not at a fast pace, but at some pace, that was certain. Slowly moving towards the mystical blackness, your heart started pounding. A very uncomfortable feeling took hold of your chest, and only grew more intense as you got closer. Your hand was in reach now, if you would just get up the courage to lift your arm. You took a deep breath and levitated your hand towards the darkness. There was no feeling of temperature difference, no moving air. Your hand didn’t sense anything as you touched it. Pulling your hand back, you felt more confident now that you hadn’t died from its touch. It was now big enough to fit your whole hand through. The perfect time to experiment. You took your hand and slowly descended it into the black circle, then you bent around to see if it came out the other side. It did. Disappointed, you sat back down on your chair, not taking your eyes of the dark circular entity, still hovering, still growing in front of the blackboard. Minutes passed, the portal shaped blackness was now about three feet in diameter, and it wasn't completely round anymore either. It was growing faster on the top and bottom than it was to the sides. By now you were a hundred percent sure, that either you were dying, hallucinating, or sleeping, or a combination of those. You kept looking at it with a grin. At least your brain gave you a show before you died. You thought back to earlier that morning, about the thunder that came from nowhere. 'This is going to end exactly the same way', you thought as the dizziness returned. You were probably going to wake up in a hospital bed, with some clear liquid dripping into your arm, and all this mysticism would be gone, probably forgotten within a week. The thought angered you. And in a split moment of rage, you picked up your bag and threw it into the darkness of the hole. You sat back down, all the sudden movements had made your already clouded mind disorientated, and for the first time in a while, you looked away. Your head was in your hands again as you tried to keep your head from spinning. Then there was a faint thought streaming through your dizzy mind. You couldn't put your finger on it, but something was clearly bothering you. ‘Did... Did my bag make a sound after hitting the other side of the classroom?’ In a sudden movement, you snapped back up. Your mind kept falling backwards after your head stopped, like your brain was still spinning inside your skull from its gained momentum. You sat still for a moment until your brain gave you the clear that it was stable enough to keep you on your feet, and you moved towards the darkness. The feeling of anxiety grew back. You walked up besides the dark interdimensional hole and looked behind it. No bag. Nothing. Just the blackboard. It had definitely hit the darkness, which could only mean one thing. Well, two things, but ruling out that you were going crazy, only one thing remained. You had classified your find as a portal, and now you were standing right in front of it. You had moved all the tables back so that there was a clearing in front of the portal. Where would it take you? Would you want to go there? Will you be able to return? Tons of questions ran through your fogged mind. You started to feel your head suddenly becoming lighter by the second. Something was changing. The space around you started to bend, and the floor was tilting in random directions. You could’t think straight anymore. Your head was numb, and you could barely keep yourself on your feet. You had one thought, clear enough to hear. And you spoke it out loud. "I am not letting this chance slip by." Chapter 2It was starting to get dark outside. Twilight Sparkle let out a soft sigh as she looked out a window, then back to the runic circle that was drawn on her living room floor. Taking a deep breath, she mustered up the will to try the spell once more. The first try had been interrupted by the library front door being swung open with great force, breaking Twilight's concentration making the spell become unstable. The result had been the magic snapping back from her glowing horn like a powerful elastic band, making a resonating boom that sounded like thunder, and most likely could be heard even from Applejack's farm. The pink mare that stood in the doorway had looked at Twilight with a puzzled expression as Pinkie Pie was given an annoyed stare. This happened almost two hours ago. Pinkie had helped to clean up the mess of books that had been shook off their shelves to litter the library floor. Then she had left, after inviting Twilight to her "One month with her colt-friend" party. That is probably not a very appropriate occasion to invite the whole town to celebrate with, but Twilight also knew that the reasoning behind most of Pinkie Pie's parties were of little importance. It was just an excuse to host another one of her great parties. But Twilight had a lot on in her mind at the moment about that very subject, and being the only one of her best friends that was still single, she knew she would probably feel out of place if she went. Twilight stepped up to the runic circle. It was about three feet in diameter. One meter and nine centimetres to be exact. She had taken a lot of time getting the drawing just right, using an old brown book as reference. The circle was drawn in black, with seven lines inside it, forming a septagon. Inside the geometric shape was three symbols next to each other. An arrow pointing up, one looking like a "V" rotated ninety degrees clockwise, and the last looking like a sharp "R". Twilight hadn't looked into what the symbols meant, which was unusual for her. But she didn't have much faith that the spell was going to work anyway. It was something she came across while she was feeling a little lonely. 'A spell to bring one meant for me before me' she thought again, reciting the text from the spellbook she was using. Her horn gave a faint glow, and the seven candles surrounding the rune lit. She looked at the whole set-up one last time, to make sure nothing was out of place, or smudged. Everything seemed fine... ‘Except...’ She snapped her head towards the door with a childish frown on her face. The door knob started to glow as a sound of it being locked was heard. Collecting herself, she looked down at the circle, closing her eyes and began to channel her magic into it. It seemed to demand quite a bit from her. The book was never specific about the difficulty of the spell, but she didn't think it would be even a third of what it felt like right now. Though the massive sound it made when it failed indicated that this might indeed take some effort to complete. It still wasn't enough. Twilight's horn increased its brightness as she focused as much magic as she could into the hungry rune. The channeling had been going on for at least five minutes. She surprised herself with her determination of making this work. A feeling came over her that this was her limit. She could only hold this magic going for a few more seconds. Opening her eyes for the first time since she had started channeling she could see a black object floating in front of her. The second she caught sight of it, she felt the spell's demand on magic lessening. Twilight instantly knew what this meant. She had done it. The spell was saturated with magic, and the rest would happen on its own. One of the great things with rune spells, all that is needed from the caster is a dash of magic. She trotted over to the round table to sit down and take notes as she observed the spell being performed by the rune. The black object, most likely a summoning portal, grew in size. After about two minutes it was a size that could fit a pony inside. Curious if this was the time "one meant for her" would appear, she squinted her eyes, trying to make out any irregularities forming inside the darkness. Something caught her eye, a different tone of black started to form, and grew rapidly. Baffled by what she saw, she leaned in for a closer look. Out of the black circle came a satchel at high velocity towards Twilight's head. In surprise she let out a cry and covered her head with her hooves. The satchel hit her and sent the pony and the item tumbling a couple of feet backwards. Shaking her head she got back on her hooves, rubbing the part of her head that had just been struck. It hurt. It felt like the thing was filled with rocks. She glanced her eyes over to her assailant lying on the ground next to her. She wanted to kick it away for having caused her pain, but quickly noticed there was something significant about the satchel. It was of a design she had never seen before, and it didn't look very convenient to carry either. "What the hay?" Twilight levitated the strange bag up in front of her. "What does this mean?". This whole situation had Twilight puzzled. Why did a weird bag come through her portal? Was it the spell that had gone wrong? She looked at the portal which still hovered over the rune on the floor, looking as active as ever. Wondering how long the portal was going to maintain open, she noticed that it was still growing in size. She became nervous. How big was the portal going to become? How would she stop its growth if it didn't halt on its own? For the moment there was a more important precaution she should be taking immediately. She collected herself, and the strange bag, and moved to the side of the portal, safely behind her table. If more projectiles were going to come through, she did not want to be in line of fire. One shot to the head was more than enough. Her attention quickly focused on the bag, and wondered about its contents. Looking around the bag, it did not have a clear way of opening. Though there was something peculiar about the line of metal that went from one side of the bag to the other. They looked like small teeth, intertwined in each other to seal it shut. Of course, nopony had ever seen a zipper mechanism before, but Twilight figured it out quickly. There was a tiny slit already open on one of the sides, and she pried it open with her magic, noticing something metallic moving upwards, releasing the teeth as it went. She got the bag open and looked inside it. "Books? The one meant for me is... books? No wonder it felt like being hit by a rock." Pulling out one of the books inside the bag, she read on its cover. "Thermodynamics...", she had never heard the names of the authors before, and the names looked strange to her. She didn't have much time to ponder on this, as the portal started to resonate a quiet sound, and looking like it was either being shut down, or becoming unstable, or... Before she could think of more explanations, a creature covered in blackness walked straight out of the portal and into her living room, stopping a few feet away from her. Her heart sunk, and for a moment she stared terrified at the creature. She broke out of her trance and realized she definitely didn't want to stand in the open like this, not before she knew what this thing was. She galloped up the stairs in panic and hid behind her bedroom door, leaving it open by a crack so she could observe the creature. It didn't look like it had noticed her at all... ~~~ Everything went black when you entered the portal. You felt a sensation you had never felt before. If you had to describe it to someone, you would say that it felt like your whole body was falling asleep, while being submerged in jelly. 'That's a good description as any.' Your head quickly cleared, and you felt your feet treading onto a new surface. Inside the portal it had felt like walking on clouds. Now a new solid surface was under your feet, and it felt good. The ride had been intense. Not knowing what was happening had scared you. But the new reassuring floor told you that your life was probably out of danger. Probably. Your sight was starting to come back. You hadn’t noticed but your hearing had also been gone while traveling, you noticed as you could start hearing the faint humming sound made by the portal. 'Where am I?' You looked around as your sight fully recovered. You were in a library. The architecture wasn't something you had seen before. It looked like it came straight out of a movie. You couldn't put your finger on it, but this place felt very familiar. Turning around you barely got a glance of the portal disappearing. And under where it had been you noticed a drawn runic circle. Looking at the table next to the circle, you spotted your bag. It was opened, and beside it lied a scrap book and...'a quill?' The ink was still wet. The thought that the person who made the circle must still be around came to mind. "Hello?" you muttered. Not sure if you wanted to meet the wizard responsible for your summoning. "Someone here?" No one answered. Somewhat relieved, you let your shoulders sink. You started to analyze your surroundings. The doors were a bit smaller than what you were used to, but the library was roomy, with at least fifteen feet from floor to ceiling. The staircase going to the second floor was open to the main room, and the main part of the second floor was also visible from where you stood, but you didn't quite see what was up there, as the walls were a bit too high for that. As your gaze roamed the second floor your eyes caught movement behind a door. Obviously something was hiding from you. And by looking at the size of the doors around you, the thing was probably smaller than you. The thought didn't completely let go of the nervous feeling of what was hiding in that room, but it was comforting in some way. You couldn't come up with anything clever to say. This situation was really strange to begin with, definitely not normal. 'If it's hiding, it's probably afraid.' "Erm... If you think I'm dangerous, then don’t worry, I won't harm you." You tried to sound as friendly as possible. Though you’re not sure how well you did, since there was no response from the door. After a little while someone answered. "You really won't do me harm?" You weren’t expecting a feminine voice to come from the door, but now that you had heard it you felt relieved. Thinking you really weren't in any danger. "No, I'd never harm anyone." The door slowly opened, and a creature on four legs stepped out. Your eyes opened wide once again. All the pieces fell into place. The library architecture, quills, and Twilight Sparkle! It was Twilight standing on the second floor, looking straight down at you... with a skeptical look on her face. You quickly realized that might be a normal response. You had seen her kind before, but she might have never seen yours. You try to contain your erupting emotions, and close your mouth. This might not even be the same world, just a look-a-like. You decided to play with the cards close at your chest. "How did I end up here?" You asked, hoping it would start a conversation. The awkward silence was starting to make you uncomfortable, and besides, you really would like to know why you were here. This seemed all too perfect to be real. "I'm not quite sure I understand it myself. The spell was a summoning spell, but I never expected it to bring me something interdimensional." Twilight explained, never taking her eyes off you. Like you were something that was not to be trusted. Which you could understand. "Soooo... What were you expecting?" Twilight straightened up in snapping motion, like she was startled by the question, then she looked to her left. "N-nothing in particular." Her face turning a slight shade of red. "And sorry for asking this so straight forward, but what are you?" "I'm a human." Having to tell someone you are human because they don't know was a strange feeling. You play dumb and ask her some questions. You figured you had the authority to, since she was the one who did the summoning. "And what might you be? And what’s your name?" "Me? I'm a unicorn pony, and my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle." She confirmed all your suspicions. But you still decide act as if on clean slates, after all, you don't really know Twilight. You've been observing her through the show on television. Which would seem kind of creepy in this scenario. Twilight continued, "Hold on a minute... I've heard of your kind somewhere!" She put a hoof on her forehead, trying to remember. "Ah, there were some ancient historical texts mentioning a human in the canterlot archives." She said while walking down the stairs. Still cautious, but at least not afraid anymore. "You don't seem like a bad guy. I'm sorry I brought you here. It's all my fault. I was just trying out a new spell, I didn't even think it would work." She looked at you with an apologetic face. You put on a friendly smile. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure everything will work out." Twilight was in deep thought for a second. "It will! I'll make sure you get back to your home world in one piece." Twilight said with determination. It wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear. You wouldn't mind staying here for at least a while. But you thought saying that right now would be sort of inappropriate. You only smiled at Twilight, and asked her where you had been summoned to. Chapter 3Twilight was stomped. The book she had used to prepare the spell that summoned you didn't seem to hold any answers of how to send you back. And another thing bothered her equally as much. How did this simple spell go so wrong as to bring something from another dimension? While she was searching through every volume in her library to find a way to correct her wrong-doings, you sat by the round table in the center of the room and tried to keep up conversations with her. It wasn't a problem once they got going. Every time you mentioned something science related, Twilight's ears would perk up, as you would expect knowing she was a bookworm hungry for knowledge. Her attention would be fixed at you for a moment, before she seemingly snapped out of the trance and continued her search. It was like she wanted to have discussions with you, but guilt was winning all the internal battles. This had gone on for hours. Looking outside, you saw the bright moon high in the black sky. There was obviously a time difference here, since your cell phone told you the time was three in the PM. Was a day even twenty four hours in Equestria? "Hey, Twilight." "Hmm? What is it?" Twilight responded, looking up from the three books she had levitating in front of her. You couldn't get quite used to seeing things fly around on their own without anything supporting them. Though the purple glow emitted by the items that were floating indicated that there was some physical - or rather, magical - law in this world that would probably be common knowledge if you had lived here. After a moment of being distracted by the floating books, you remembered that you were going to say something. "It’s the middle of the night, right? Aren’t you tired? We should get some sleep, then continue tomorrow fully rested." She really did look tired, but the thought of stopping her from quickly finding a way to return you to Earth also played a role in your request. "I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I brought you all this trouble." She frowned. "I was really hoping there was an easy way to fix this. But it looks like we're not that lucky." You felt kind of relieved, but the fact that it was making Twilight miserable made you feel bad about it. "Don't worry about me Twilight. You shouldn't tire yourself out. Your overall efficiency would probably go up if you rested for a while anyway." "You're probably right... I'm not getting anywhere like this. I would have sent a letter to the princess and asked for her input on the matter, but my dragon is out of town, and sending a letter by mail would take a long time." "Dragon?" You asked, knowing it was probably Spike she was referring to, but you didn't want to let her know you knew that. "Yes. He is my number one assistant, and a good friend of mine," She said, smiling again. "U-huh. And you're also friends with a princess?" You raise an eyebrow, but only because you think it would have been your normal reaction if anyone said they knew a princess. "I am princess Celestia's protégé." She said proudly, lifting a hoof to her chest. "I usually consult her if I'm stomped on something. Maybe she could at least shine some light on what has happened, or give me special permission to go into the Canterlot archives and search for any clues there." Her confident voice quickly faded as she was openly admitting she was out of her league on this one. "I still say we should call it a night, and get some sleep." "Yea I guess." Twilight sighed. "But... I don't have a guest bed for you." "No matter, I could fall asleep just about anywhere." It sounded like you just didn't want to be a bother, but it was true. "Just give me a pillow and I'll sleep on the floor down here." You smiled at Twilight, trying to make sure she knew you wouldn't mind. Twilight looked at you with a frown of guilt you've grown quite familiar with tonight. "Alright. Just wait a minute and I will bring you some things." Twilight went up the stairs and into the room she had been hiding in when you first arrived, it was presumably her bedroom. A few moments passed and she came trotting back out with a hovering pillow above her head and a blanket on her back. She walked up next to you, handing you the pillow with her magic and picking up the blanket from her back with her mouth. 'Looks kind of peculiar in real life,' you thought while grabbing the blanket. You walked up to the library wall opposite of the stairs and got ready to sleep, letting out with a low, but exciting voice. "I've never tried to deal with jet lag before." Twilight looked puzzled. "What's jetlag?" With a smirk on your face you got cozy under the blanket. It wasn't big enough to cover you from neck to toe. You had to curl up a bit to get your feet tucked in underneath. "Nothing Twilight." Your smirk widening. "Go get some rest, and we'll see each other in the morning," you said whilst looking up at Twilight, who was looking back at you. She closed her eyes and smiled. "You're good company." Twilight said, opening her eyes again with a thoughtful look. "There's not much we can do before Spike gets home the day after tomorrow. And with you kind of being my guest, we shouldn't be keeping you cooped up in here until we get this sorted out. What do you say I show you around Ponyville tomorrow?" Her smile reappeared as she told you her suggestion. "Wouldn't seeing me scare peop- ... somepony?" "Maybe at first, but if we're not able to get you home very soon it would be a shame to have you closed up in the library your whole stay." Things couldn't have turned out any better. You're going to meet the whole gang! The thought gave you butterflies of excitement, but being in full control of your emotions you only put on a warm smile. "That would be great. I can't wait to see your world." "That's the spirit" Twilight said smiling back at you. She walked off up the stairs, turning back towards you a last time outside her bedroom door. "Goodnight." She said, and proceeded to walk into her room. "Goodnight." You were more tired than you had first anticipated. Perhaps the rough trip had tired you out somehow, and you were just too distracted up until now by everything to notice. Your pillow and blanket smelled good, like a field of flowers on a sunny day. It also reminded you of the scent that roamed around Twilight. It didn't take long before you were fast asleep. The sound of Twilight walking down the stairs woke you the following morning. You got up in a sitting position with your back against the wall, still not quite awake. Twilight was looking at you with sleepy eyes from the bottom of the staircase, with a bed head for the books. You chuckled lightly at the sight of the messy pony. She looked up at her mane and put a grin on her face. "Ha-ha. You look like you've slept quite well yourself there." She returned the chuckle at you and your messy hair. "Did you sleep well? The floor really doesn't look very comfortable." "My neck seems to have taken a hit, but I slept fine." Stretching your neck, you could see Twilight's face turn a slight shade of red, like last night when you asked what she was supposed to summon. "We'll have to figure something out for tonight. We can’t have you sleeping on the floor every night while you're here." Twilight planning ahead like this probably indicated she didn't have much against you staying here at least. Which was a relief in itself. Not only that though, she looked rather happy while saying it. This spiked your curiosity once more. "Twilight, just what were you trying to summon last night?" Again, startled by the question, her face gained a deeper shade of red as she stood silent for a moment. She looked down at the floor with an embarrassed look on her face. "The spell was supposed to bring forth somepony meant for me." She said reluctantly with a low voice. "I don't know why the spell summoned you, but then again, I don't really know how love works either." By now you were just staring at the purple unicorn. Gears in your head turning. She did a spell to find a boyfriend? Or rather, colt-friend. And the spell chose me? Why didn't the spell bring her a pony? "Anyway.." Twilight continued before you had processed all this, obviously trying to change the subject. "Has it been long since you last ate? You're probably hungry, right?" Snapping out of your daze you barely got what she was saying. "Hm? Oh yeah. It’s been awhile since I ate, I guess." Just being here in this fantasy world had made even your basic instincts retreat while you were digesting just how awesome these circumstances were. Now reminded of those cravings again, you felt that you're starving. You haven’t had anything since that glass of juice yesterday morning after all. "Well would you like some breakfast? I got fresh hay and daisies in the fridge." 'One abnormal situation after another.' You were hungry, but not that hungry. You try to explain to Twilight that humans didn't like the taste of hay, and that you wouldn't get much nutrition even if you did eat it. Twilight looked a little concerned. "So what do humans eat?" Your mind was racing for a second. You couldn't say meats, and dairy products were probably not a good idea either. Thinking back on what the characters eat on the TV show, you find the answers. Trying not to make it too specific you answer her question. "Fruit and pastries." You say victoriously. "Oh. That shouldn't be a problem acquiring. My friend Applejack owns an apple farm, and Pinkie Pie works at a bakery." "You think your friends would react any differently than what you did when you first saw me?" Twilight didn't look worried. "It's fine. I'll just explain to them why you're here. I'm sure they will understand. I bet they will come around liking you in no-time." Butterflies were emerging in your stomach again, now a mix of excitement and plain being nervous. Twilight walked towards the door. "Let’s get going then shall we?" "Wait, you're not gonna, you know, fix your mane first?" Twilight froze in mid walk, looking up at her mane again. "That's probably a good idea." You both share a laugh. You had borrowed Twilight's bathroom after she was done there. The roof was much lower than that of the library, but it was just high enough for you not needing to crouch. By the back wall there was a bathtub with a shower head above it. You didn’t use any of Twilight's soaps, but the warm water alone would probably suffice for a day. You dried yourself with a towel Twilight said you could use. Putting your clothes back on, a thought struck you as amusing. 'Good thing I didn't wear my "Loyalty" T-shirt yesterday. Now that would've been awkward.' Walking back into the library you saw Twilight waiting at the front door. She had a blue and purple satchel over her back, giving her pockets on either sides. "Do humans always fully dress themselves?" Twilight asked. You ponder a second about how to answer. "We don’t have fur all over like you guys do, so we use clothes to keep warm." "Ah, that makes sense." Twilight said, like she just learned valuable piece of information. "We can head directly to Applejack's farm. Maybe we should keep your exposure to Pinkie Pie to a minimum for now. Also I don’t think cupcakes counts as a breakfast." "I'm sure she's not that bad. But I can agree on that second reason. Let's head to the farm then." The walk to the farm was longer than you had expected. Everything looked like it was close together on television, but now the two of you had walked a country road for about fifteen minutes, and only now could you see the red barn in the distance. It was a beautiful sunny day. You tried to the best of your ability to juggle enjoying the scenery and talking with Twilight as you walked, though the latter was far more interesting. Twilight wanted to know all about you, and humans in general. And you wanted to know all about her, and enjoyed listening to her telling you about her friends, about her life, and the communities in Equestria consisting of a mix of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies. Even though you knew a lot about what she was telling you, listening to them being told as facts was a feeling that differed from that of knowing a TV show. It really felt like being on clean slates after all, which made you even happier about all this. You halted in the middle of the gravel path. Twilight did the same after noticing you had slowed to a stop, and looked puzzled back at you. "Do you hear that?" You asked. You could hear what sounded like a jet engine in the distance, slowly increasing in volume. It was barely noticeable though. "I don’t think I hear anything. What does it sound like?" "I can't really explain it. Sounds like-" "WATCH OUT!" was the last thing you heard before being knocked off your feet. Something had crashed into your side. Knocking the air out of your lungs and made you soar several feet before hitting the ground. Gasping for your lost air, you rolled over on your back, and heard something getting up besides you. "Excuse me, I didn’t mean to hit you. The tunnel vision becomes really bad when I go at full speed. I didn't even see you until just before-WOW!" The pegasus let out a surprised cry as she looked over and saw what it was she had crashed into. "Just what are you?!" She said as she took off the ground and hovered at a safe distance from you. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight caught the blue pegasus' attention. "Huh, Twilight? What are you doing here? And what’s up with that thing?" Rainbow Dash points a hoof in your general direction while looking at Twilight. "He is with me, and he's a human. He isn't from Equestria. A spell went wrong yesterday and brought him here." Twilight explained, trying to get across that you weren't not a threat. "Oh." Rainbow Dash descended. With her hooves on the ground she looked at you more closely as you slowly stumbled back on your feet. You were still disorientated from the crash, and your side smarted in rhythm with your heartbeat. "He's kinda... funny lookin'." Rainbow stated. "Well humans are not even from our dimension, it may be expected for them to look a bit different." Twilight explains. "Another dimension, huh." You finally catch your breath fully and look up at the cyan coated pegasus standing besides Twilight. 'Rainbow Dash! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!' You try to contain your ever pressing excitement. "Ye, hi there." You put on the same warm smile you showed Twilight, as it was becoming your standard poker face in these situations. The pain was suddenly not a problem you cared about anymore. "We're going to Sweet Apple Acres to buy some apple products, as his kind doesn't eat hay." Twilight couldn't get out another word before Rainbow's ears perked up, and her eyes opened wide. "That reminds me! I gotta go. Guess I'll see you at the farm. I'll give Applejack the heads up that you're on your way." With that, the rainbow maned pegasus shot like a bullet in the direction she was originally heading. "What was that about?" Scratching your head, you look at Twilight for an explanation. "I am just as blank as you are. Though it isn't unusual for her to be in a rush." Twilight said as she started heading towards the red barn. "She did say she was on her way to the same place we are. We'll find out what this is about when we get there I reckon." "How much further is it?" "We're over halfway now, so not much further." Hoping you didn't blow it with Rainbow Dash, a feeling of anxiety built up in your chest. You would really have liked to be on everypony's good side, and not be left out because you were so different. But you thought that might be inevitable. The road to Sweet Apple Acres was spent talking to Twilight about anything that came to mind. Though in the back of your head brewed what Twilight said back at the library, about the spell to summon her a mate. If she was a human girl, her personality alone would probably be more than enough to win your heart. But she was a pony... Would a relationship with her even be possible? Chapter 4The barn wasn't far off now. Wishing the trip would last a while longer you look over at Twilight. You hadn't really taken much notice of it before, but her coat looked really soft, and her mane waved effortlessly as the wind blew by. 'Those are some good conditioning products they got here.' went through your mind, as you recalled all the different soaps and creams that were covering the shelves in Twilight's bathroom. You were rudely interrupted from admiring the pony by something hard knocking against your skull. A sign was hanging above the entrance to the farm at head height, giving you a rather uncomfortable welcome. "Ah!" You let out a startled shout of pain and quickly raised a hand to your forehead, mending the aching area with intense rubbing. Twilight chuckled lightly at your slight comic display. "Are you alright back there?" You turned and looked back at the sign that you for a brief instant hated with all your soul. It was a wooden sign with a carved hole in it shaped like an apple. As you quickly recognize it, all its sins were forgiven as you looked around you, scanning the farm for any signs of recognizable ponies. Nothing but corn and carrots to the left. Nopony to the right either. "They are probably by the apple trees. If Rainbow is here she's probably hoof wrestling with Applejack behind the barn." Twilight said pointing a hoof towards the left of the red building. The butterflies were multiplying in your gut for every step you took as they each helped to reveal more of what lay behind the barn. There they were. Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They were standing by the edge of the orchard facing towards each other. Rainbow Dash, who was the one facing the direction you were coming from, looked up over Applejack and gave the two approaching visitors an acknowledged nod. Applejack turned her head to see you and Twilight walking towards them. Not wanting to give off a bad impression you calmly walked behind Twilight. She looked back at you and gave you a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, you don't give off any bad vibes. Rainbow Dash was just caught off guard." She must have known you were nervous. The first reaction of the pegasus wasn't exactly the most confidence inspiring ever. "Is it that easy to see?" You said smiling back at Twilight. "Just relax, I am sure they will come to like you as much as I do." "Hi there, Twilight." Applejack walked towards the two of you to meet you halfway, not looking any kind of worried. She wore her cowboy hat tilted back slightly, not hiding any of her face. A small ounce of panic loomed in your brain as you followed Twilight's pace, and she was showing no signs of slowing down. At this rate you would meet the cowboy-hatted pony in just a few more seconds, with no time to prepare yourself. "And hi there to you partner. Ah'm Applejack, and welcome to our farm here in Ponyville." Before you knew it Applejack was standing right in front of you. She was looking at you with the friendliest smile you had ever seen, reaching out a hoof for a handshake. "A pleasure meeting you, Applejack." You responded, instinctively taking her hoof in your hand and giving it a gentle shake. Warm smile mode, engaged. "Nice to meet yah. Rainbow here told me you were on your way, also heard you gave her quite a scare." She said, obviously taunting her cyan friend. "Hey, I wasn't scared! I was surprised." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, having followed a bit behind Applejack. "Ye ye, riot down sugarcube." Waving a hoof at the pegasus, emoting her to not to chase it any further. "So, you obviously look like you're not from around these parts. How did yah wind up here in Equestria?" Twilight told Rainbow and Applejack about her spell and how she ended up finding you in her living room, discreetly leaving out what kind of spell it was. She also told them the reason for you going to Sweet Apple Acres this morning. Rainbow Dash is the first to cut in after Twilight's explanation. "I'm sorry for crashing into you earlier," she said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, not making much eye contact. You relaxed your shoulders in relief as you look at Rainbow Dash hovering in front of you. "No worries Rainbow, no one was hurt right?" You smiled at the pegasus, who lightened up by your response. "Cool, so we're cool?" She extended out one of her front legs in half a punching motion, leaving it half way outstretched towards you. This was no potential hoofshake, you knew exactly what to do. "Of course. We're cool." Hoof met fist in an explosion of fireworks and confetti. This day was getting better by every passing second. Your mind was still trying to comprehend the awesomeness of the situation when Applejack stepped back and started walking towards a house located to the left of the barn, giving a short glance back at you. "So y'all hungry? I got some freshly baked bread and apple spread inside the house, probably the best breakfast in all Equestria." There weren't any complaints from your growling belly, so you and the ponies swiftly followed Applejack to her house. Breakfast was delicious, and an amazing time. The ponies didn't seem to mind that you looked different at all. Applebloom and Big Macintosh didn't seem to mind either, as the little filly was sitting besides you asking about how it was to constantly walk around on two legs. From there she got the great idea to gather the Cutie Mark Crusaders to submit her new idea for circus cutie marks. 'Did she just imply that I look like a circus freak when I walk?' Big Mac didn't say much. He greeted you when you entered the kitchen, but that was about all you heard from him, though he seemed into everything that was being said at the breakfast table. "Hey, you should totally show up to Pinkie Pie's party tomorrow." Rainbow Dash exclaimed after forcing down a huge bite of her apple spread sandwich. "I had forgotten all about that. Now that you mention it, would be a great way to meet everypony." Twilight said before continuing with a concerned look, "Though I don't know how tomorrow's schedule will look as Spike is coming home, and we should really get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible." "Lighten up Twi, you could always delay it for one measly evenin'." Applejack protested with a mouthful of apple. The ponies really did a good job to make you feel welcome. "It's decided then!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she pointed a hoof towards you from across the table. You ate until you couldn't take another bite as everypony looked in awe at how much you could stuff down. The easily impressed ponies and the deliciousness of the food and apple juice felt like it would be the end of you, as the content in your stomach were threatening to burst its container. Applejack was cleaning off the table with the help of her eager little sister after everyone had their fill. "Well Ah'm sorry to be cutting this gatherin' short, but we have a lot to do on the farm with the harvest just around the corner an' all." Applejack explained. "We also have plans today, so we should get going if we're to see as much as possible before it gets dark. The sun is already high in the sky." Twilight looked over at you as you gave her an agreeing nod. After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked you and Twilight to the farm gate. You gracefully duck under the apple sign and turn around to the two ponies behind you. "Guess I'll see everypony tomorrow then." You've finally gotten to a point where you can talk normally to them. The thought about knowing them from a TV show was fading rather rapidly. "Darned toot'n." Applejack said, then looks over at Twilight. "You make sure our guest enjoys his stay in Ponyville now." "I'll do my best to be a good host." Twilight responds smiling, then turns her head to Rainbow Dash. "Tell Fluttershy I said hi. I haven't had the opportunity to visit lately." Rainbow Dash took her eyes off you and looked at her purple friend. "I will Twilight, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from ya." Rainbow Dash replies while giving Twilight a soft smile. You all bid your goodbyes and part ways for now. Applejack had given you a bunch of her finest apples in a sack, free of charge. Twilight had suggested that she could carry them in her satchel but you insisted as the gentleman you are to carry them yourself. You fumbled to get a new firm grip on the sack of apples and walked swiftly to catch up with Twilight. "See, I told you they would like you. There was no need to be worried." You look back and see Applejack and Rainbow Dash still by the gate looking out towards you and Twilight. You wave your free arm at them in a long, slow motion above your head. They waved back, Applejack doing the same waving motion as you, and Rainbow shooting up ten feet in the air and waving both her front hooves. Your heart jumps with joy at the sight. "I guess." Your smile reaching from ear to ear, still walking backwards while enjoying the moment. "What do you want to see next?" You turn back around and look down to your side to meet Twilight's big eyes. "Well, what's there to see?" There were of course things you knew you wanted to see, but you wanted Twilight to lead the wagon. "There aren't really many spectacular landmarks in Ponyville, but there are some pretty sights. We could walk through town and drop the apples off at the library, there’s no need to be carrying them around all day." There was a lot apples in the sack, and there weren't any gripping handles on it, making it a little uncomfortable to hold for a long time. You could already feel the inside of your hand getting a little sore. "That sounds like a plan." You switch the sack into your other hand. You quickly estimated the walk back to Ponyville to last between twenty five and thirty minutes. Thirty minutes with just you and Twilight. She seemed distracted, and neither of you said anything the next couple of minutes, with you just enjoying the scenery once more. There were round hills as far as you could see in one direction, most of them covered in trees, and the horizon behind Ponyville was obstructed by a mountain range. As you look at the mountains you see something in the corner of your vision. A big grey cloud. It was seemingly heading towards the farm you just left. Following the cloud with your eyes, it didn't look like it was being carried by wind. After it had passed, you saw a blue dot behind it, realizing the blue pegasus was probably had gone to the farm today on weather business. You break the silence by asking Twilight about her other friends, from there the conversation jumps from one topic to another. Before you knew it you were asking her about magic. When she explained it as a force in this world that could be manipulated in different ways by specific minerals, you related it to magnets. The unicorn horns were made of a bunch of these minerals connected to short nerves that lead directly to the unicorn's brain. So basically they had a horn made of different types of electro magnets. The discussion went on to comparisons between the two worlds, and time was forgotten as topics flew by. You were nearly in town when you saw two ponies walking in the opposite direction. Twilight had noticed them too. An earth pony and a unicorn. The unicorn had a turquoise coat with a light blue mane, the earth pony was cream coloured with a blue and pink mane. You decided you were going to act like nothing abnormal was going on, and as you passed them you gave a simple stranger-to-stranger greeting while waving your free hand in a short, fast motion. Since you were walking alongside Twilight you figured they wouldn't become scared of you if you acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary. "Good day." They looked at you in confusion. "H-hello..." They replied in union. You could feel their stare in your neck long after you passed them. "Genius." Twilight giggled at the sight the surprised faces of the two ponies, who were still standing at in the spot where you passed them a minute ago. Pleased with your accomplishment you smiled and looked down at the unicorn walking besides you. "So which way now to your library? We didn't walk this way out of town if I remember correctly." "You're right. This way will take us past the plaza before we reach the library. Would you rather walk back the way we took this morning?" You had taken a route out of Ponyville that morning that seemed to avoid where there might be ponies around at the time. It was probably a little longer than walking straight through town, and you did want to see if you could recognize anything there. Though the thought of having all eyes on you while walking through a crowd of ponies made you a little nervous. "It's alright I guess. As long as there won't be an uproar when everyon... everypony sees me." "As long as you're with me I think the worst we'll get is ponies staring in awe like Lyra and Bon-Bon back there." "Oh, so you knew those ponies?" "I know who they are, but I don't really know them personally. It's a small town, everypony knows everypony around here." "I guess that makes sense." That's how you imagined things were in small towns back home as well. Walking through town wasn't really all that bad. Some curious eyes had followed you as you went, but no one seemed particularly frightened. Maybe strange creatures weren't as rare as you had first thought. In a world with dragons, a mammal that wasn't even twice the height of a pony wouldn't be a huge cause for alarm. The first thing you had recognized was the town hall, then your head had snapped towards a pink building with a huge cupcake on top of it. The road had taken you right past Sugarcube Corner. You had tried to peek through the windows to check for any party ponies that might be inside, but to your disappointment you hadn't seen anypony at all. After you had passed the bakery however, something didn't feel right. You could swear that you had passed the pony reading the newspaper with a brown scarf on her head at least two times before. Maybe it was just your imagination, because as soon as you thought you had noticed, you never saw the newspaper pony again. But there was still something making the air seem uneasy. Having reached the library Twilight insisted on taking the apples to the kitchen for you. You let her grip the sack of apples with her magic and she trotted away, and as you could heard the sound of her struggling to stuff the apples inside the fridge, you sat down on the floor by the center table to rest your feet. The air in the library had a slight chill to it compared to the warm summer weather outside, and it felt good as the sweat on your forehead evaporated and didn't re-emerge. Twilight, having finally finished her struggle with the limited space of her fridge, sat down besides you. "So what do you say we head to Fluttershy's cottage next?" She suggests as she levitateed a glass of clear liquid to the table in front of you. "She's the kindest pony I know, and it's a very beautiful scene, her cottage alone, but also the nature around it." The clear liquid in the glass wasn't just water. It was sweet, and a taste you had never experienced from any kind of food or drink before, but you still recognized it. It tasted what flowers smelled like. It was delicious, like they had isolated the smell of a flower then added water and sugar. "Sounds good." Tossing down the rest of the drink in one gulp, you stand up. "Thanks for the delicious drink." “Glad you liked it.” Twilight returned your smile and stood back up, and you head out the door. Walking through some parts of town towards Fluttershy's cottage, you could hear rustling coming from bushes, and suspicious looking ponies could be seen every now and again. You were now very certain, somepony was following you. Chapter 5This time around, walking through Ponyville was an uncomfortable experience. Something was following you, but you could never catch a glimpse of who or what it was. Twilight hadn't noticed your paranoia at all it seemed, as she was walking a few feet in front of you the whole time, absorbed in her own thoughts. On the outskirts of town you could still hear rustling from a tree. The thought that it was some shy, curious pony trying to figure out what you were struck you as the most likely possibility, but this was making you uneasy. You wanted to find out who this pony was. You stopped in the middle of the road. Twilight didn't hear gravel settling under your feet anymore and turned around. "What's the matter?" Twilight looked a bit worried. "Nothing, it's just... I think something is following us." Twilight looks around, trying to spot anything moving. Nothing. "I don't see anypony. Maybe it’s just your imagination?" You look around, then fix your eyes on the tree you had last heard a noise from. "I know you're there. What do you want?" The right side of your vision was suddenly blocked by something bright coloured. In surprise you quickly stepped back to see what it was. Pinkie Pie. She had a serious look on her face and a magnifying glass in front of her, glaring at you with a huge eye. Your heart's first reaction was to leap with joy at seeing her, Pinkie Pie was here! '...but what's with the serious look on her face?' Pinkie disappeared from sight. Now behind you, you could feel her studying the back of your head, grazing through your hair with her hoof. Turning around you didn't see the pink mare, as she was now on the ground, studying your shoes. You only stare at Pinkie in confusion as she got up, seemingly done with examining you. "Erm... Pinkie Pie? Is everything alright?" Twilight looked at her with a confused look. The pink mare's expression quickly changed from gloomy serious to joyful, as she started to bounce around you and Twilight. "Nothing's the matter, silly! I was just very curious to find out how he knows me." A lump forms in your throat. 'What did she just say??' "What do you mean? It's probably because I've been telling him about you." "Noooooo, that's not it. He must have known from before that." She stopped bouncing and put a hoof to her chin as one could hear the wheels in her brain turning. "Maybe it's cause he is really good at guessing games! He had already guessed he was going to meet us and figured out who we were even if he hadn't met us yet, even where I lived! You're good, mister!" "What are you talking about Pinkie? He just arrived here yesterd-" Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie suddenly being up in her face, with a huge eye staring at her from behind the magnifying glass. "Exactly!" Pinkie exclaims in a loud dramatic voice. Twilight looked at her friend, not able to assert what Pinkie was trying to say. You, on the other hand, knew exactly what it was she knew. How could she know? Pinkie turned her attention to you. Her smile widening. "It doesn't really matter how anyway. What's important is that we get to know you! We can't have friends who know their friends but their friends not knowing you, that could lead to awkward situations and awkward situations could lead to sadness which leads to loneliness and lonely ponies eat their cupcakes alone and no one should have to eat their cupcakes alone." It was impressive to look at the pony not biting her tongue while ranting on. At least it seemed like you were out of danger for the moment. With Pinkie's talking going silent for a couple of seconds, Twilight took her chance to get in a word. "Aaaanyways, this is Pinkie Pie." "Nice to finally meet you, Pinkie." With the worry of being found out nearly gone, the feeling of excitement took over once again. Pinkie stood in front of you smiling. She looked just like you had imagined, her mane and tail looked fluffy like cotton candy, and you could sense a sweet smell in the air since she showed herself. Just by being in her presence you could feel an aura around her that made you brighten up, making it impossible not to smile. "Hi, nice to meet you too! I'm having a party tomorrow and you should totally come. We'll play games, listen to music, dance to music, eat edible decorating paper. It'll be a blast!" You chuckle at her fast and random rambling. This was one interesting pony alright. "So I heard, I'd love to come to your party." Pinkie's smile widened even more from hearing you accepting her invitation, and before you could grasp any movement, she had embraced you in a hug. 'If I die tonight, it will be with a grin on my face.' The hug had left you dazed. It was the first full on contact you had experienced with a pony since arriving here. Except the crash with Rainbow, but that would hardly count in this context. Pinkie was soft, and the scent of candy was strong and seemed to originate from her mane which was right under your nose. It felt like being hugged by a teddy bear, only this was way better than any teddy bear. She broke the hug after only a few seconds, but for you it had felt like an eternity of bliss. Pinkie looked at you, satisfied with her hug as you stood completely still with your eyes half closed and a big grin on your face, then she turned to Twilight. "Are you guys going to see Fluttershy?" Twilight, who was looking at you in spite, was a bit startled by the question. "Yup. Since we don't have the resources here to reverse the spell today, we're touring around Ponyville. And Fluttershy's cottage was next on our list." She gave the pink mare a gentle glare. "Do you want to tag along with us?" Clearly she wasn't very fond of the idea of her tagging along. "As much as I'd like to, I have somewhere else I need to be." Pinkie seemed oblivious to Twilight's gesture of slight resentment. Snapping out of your trance you look over at your former hugging partner. "Well, we'll be there at the party tomorrow. Guess we'll see you then." Pinkie stood up on her hind legs and waved her front hooves furiously at you and Twilight. "Be there or be square, then be there! I have to go deliver these cakes to Cranky so I have to fly. See you tomorrow!" Pulling out a basket from nowhere and putting it on her head with a strap under her chin, Pinkie bounced away. You and Twilight only stood still and watched the pony leave, then looked at each other. "She's rather energetic isn't she." Your mask was starting to crack as the warm smile you usually wore in these situations were far wider than you meant for it to be. "She's Pinkie Pie. There is no better way to define what she is. Believe me, I've tried." Twilight turned around and started walking along the path in the other direction. You walked quickly to catch up and walk by her side. "I'll take your word for it then." You smiled and look down at Twilight, who only looked straight forward with a scowl. "Is something the matter, Twilight?" Twilight's cheeks turned a shade of red and she looked away. "Nothing's the matter." she said, then turned back to you. "It's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind is all." She forced a smile while saying it, but it looked more sincere after a short moment. 'What was that about. Did she have a falling out with Pinkie? Pinkie didn't look like she had a grudge against Twilight though. Was she jealous of Pinkie's hug?' The thought that it might have been something you did bothered you. You didn't want Twilight to be mad at you, or feel any kind of unhappy in general. "You sure?" you pursued with an indication of concern in your voice. "I'm sure." She looked like her happy self again now, maybe it was just you over thinking things again after all. It wasn't very long until you reached a wooden bridge that made path over a small creek. On the other side you could see a house almost completely camouflaged in the nature surrounding it, only betrayed by the paved pathway and fence that lead up to the front door. A second look showed the blue curtains behind the clear windows, though the brightness of the sun outside made the inside of the house seem dark and vacant. The outside of the house however, was very lively. Everywhere you looked there was a critter of some sort, and clucking sounds from the chicken coop gave the chickens' presence away. The contrast between the blue sky and different shades of green nature was stunningly pretty. All the animal sounds together with the sight of it all gave the whole scene a sense of tranquility. Your observant eye caught movement in a curtain on the second floor of the cottage. "I think somepony saw us coming." you remarked, pointing at the window you had made your observation. Knowing this pony was very shy by nature, you had hoped you could at least get close to see Fluttershy before she ran away after noticing you. "Let's see if she answers the door then." Twilight's voice indicating she didn't have too high hopes that you would get a response. "Let's." All the excitement your body felt today had made you quite tired, and the feeling was much more diluted now walking up to the cottage door than it was the first time you had seen Rainbow Dash this morning. Twilight raised a hoof and knocked on the red two-part door with three solid knocks. Talking could be heard inside, though it was too low to hear what was being said. When it gradually became louder it sounded like someone having a conversation... or an argument. Fluttershy wasn't alone in there. "... -not going out there, I won't know what to say, what if he doesn't like me, we don't know what he does to ponies he doesn't like." "Don't worry Fluttershy. I met him this morning and he didn't seem remotely dangerous." 'Somepony I met this morning?' The door knob twitched a little, then it went silent and the sound of a struggle was coming through the door. Shortly after, the door flung open, and in the opening stood Rainbow Dash. You were a little surprised seeing her here, but Twilight didn't seem to remark it as anything special. Behind Rainbow was a trembling pink and yellow lump of fur. The thrilling feeling of experiencing something otherworldly emerged once again. Seemed you still had it in you after all. You braced yourself for meeting the scared pony with your friendly poker smile. Rainbow Dash was the first of the two pegasi to greet you. "Hey! We meet again. Fluttershy, why don't you say hi." The pink maned pegasus got up with a fresh breeze of confidence and walked towards the door with her eyes fixed on Rainbow. "Fine Dashie, but I really don't like you forcing me into these things. I'd really like to do things at my own - Eek!" Looking up at you for a moment, Fluttershy gave off a startled squeal and hid back behind Rainbow, who closed her eyes in a heavy sigh at the quivering pegasus. Not an entirely unexpected reaction, you thought. "Consider his feelings for a second would you Fluttershy?" "It's alright, I get that I look unusual." "Well yea. But now we know you're cool. So it shouldn't be such a big deal, should it, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy slowly stood back up and walked up besides Rainbow Dash in the doorway, switching her eyes between the floor and you every other second. "Well, um... I guess not. I'm sorry. Hello Twilight, and welcome." You try to give her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry about it. I’ve been getting strange reactions all day.” Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a gentle pat on the head, making sure not to mess up her mane. "Hi Fluttershy." Twilight said smiling trying to lighten up Fluttershy's mood, but she now only stood crouched in the doorway looking to her right, making herself as small as possible and hiding her face behind her mane. Rainbow spoke up since Fluttershy had shied away into silence. "It's nice to see you both. So what's up?" Before Twilight could answer you wanted to try an ice-breaker. "Twilight is showing me around Ponyville today, and so far I haven't seen anything as pretty as your garden and the area surrounding it, Fluttershy." She carefully looked back up at you to acknowledge your compliment. "Um, thanks." "And you have a lot of critters I see. I'm an animal lover myself, are you friends with all of them?" Hearing your statement, Fluttershy looked up at you with more interest. "Why, yes. All the animals and critters around here are my friends. I feed them and take care of them if they fall ill." "That's pretty impressive. I've never had any more than a couple of pets at most, and that alone is hard work." It seemed the tactic worked. It was the first time you really felt the knowledge from the TV show had really helped out. Though you felt a little dirty, because in a way what you did was cheating. "Oh, it's not a problem, they are all well behaved, and most of them don't need that much looking after." The yellow pegasus had the softest, gentle voice. Just hearing her speak could make one feel relaxed. Impressed by your crafty diplomatic skills, Twilight looked at you with big eyes in surprise before turning to the pair standing in front of her. "Could you perhaps show him around? You know these woods more than anypony." "Sure Twilight, anything for a new friend." Good chills ran through your body as Flutteshy's words reached your ears. 'Best. Day. Ever.' Your mind did a victorious fist-pump action. Today had been well spent making new friends, of your dreams! Fluttershy's garden was much bigger than expected. It took almost two hours to see all the sights Fluttershy had deemed worthy of presenting. Rainbow Dash had tagged along as well. Fluttershy had taken you to an old tree in the midst of the forest about a ten minute walk from her cottage. She had told you what you were going to see, and you had become quite skeptical if it was worth the trouble of walking through the woods for so long to see a tree. Any skepticism was removed once you entered a clearing in the forest that roomed a tree with a very thick trunk. It's ancient looks gave it a magical presence. The bottom branches had no leaves growing on them anymore, but the top was green and thriving. At the base of the trunk, the roots had reached out wide to form small caves under the huge tree, in which groups of deer had taken residence. Fluttershy floated over to them and kept them calm as you approached, giving you a chance to pet the tame animals. Time passed by quickly while seeing all these beautiful places. You were on your way back to the cottage when Rainbow Dash's stomach started to growl, quickly followed by your own. Twilight give a light sigh. "Maybe it's about time for dinner. I am getting pretty hungry myself." Fluttershy gently glided back around from her position at the front of the pack to land besides you. "Oh, I can make us dinner." Fluttershy suggested with a gentle smile. Rainbow Dash was quick to land besides the yellow pegasus and pointed a hoof out in protest. "You made dinner yesterday, 'Shy. I promised that I'd make you dinner today. I'll just make a double portion since we have guests." "Well, that's true. I guess, if you really want to, it's fine." Rainbow Dash nods, then closed her eyes in thought for a moment. "Twilight said something about humans not being able to eat a bunch of stuff this morning though. So what can we cook up?" While Rainbow Dash was inside the cottage making dinner - with help from Twilight - you were outside befriending Fluttershy's bird collection. You had birds sitting all over your head and outstretched arms when Fluttershy's smile dimmed down to a little more serious look than you were used to seeing on this mare. You looked at Fluttershy and exert yourself to speak without moving too much, in an attempt to not frighten the birds. "What's the matter? You seem not so happy all of sudden." The pegasus looked up at you. "It's just, you know, I'm just sorry how I acted when I first saw you. I was judging a book by its cover." "I told you it was alright didn't I?" You smile reassuringly at her. "That’s not all I want to say though. Even after I got a bit distracted by the fact that you loved animals, I was a bit worried. But now I'm just curious really." "What is it?" "Well, one of the first things I noticed when I saw you..." She took a short pause looking away from you, then looked back into you eyes. "You have carnivore teeth." What Fluttershy was saying surprised you, but maybe it shouldn't have. She was a master with animals after all, of course she would have noticed something like that. She continued, "Does that have anything with you not being able to eat hay and the like?" Your face turns serious as well. This isn't a subject you can shove or joke away. You have to reassure her somehow without telling the entire truth. The fact that you actually prefer a good burger would probably freak somepony out. "You're right Fluttershy." You let your arms down and the birds fly away. You couldn't look serious with twelve birds on your arms. Fluttershy didn't look scared, she bore a face of anticipation, waiting for you to come with some explanation. "Where I am from, using my teeth for what they're designed for, is a choice. Lots of humans go through their entire lives eating nothing but what grows out from the ground. It's actually becoming more and more common, but our digestive system can't break down hay and flowers the way yours can." Fluttershy's face showed off a smile again, looking like she was happy with what she heard, though you weren't sure if you had explained it well enough. "That's good to hear at least. I wasn't really worried, I was just curious. I know you wouldn't hurt anypony, I can see it in your eyes." Captivated by her words, you could understand why she would be the element of kindness. Dinner was served on a picnic rug outside the cottage. The appetizer was a salad, seemingly mixed with different fruits and vegetables, not something you were used to, but completely edible. For the main course the ponies had made pasta with mushroom sauce. And it was pretty darn good. After not leaving any scraps, everyone laid back in the grass. Some small talk were exchanged, and without you realizing, it you drifted to sleep. You woke up just as gradually as you had fallen asleep. The only give-away that you had slept for a while, was the sky starting to turn orange as the sun was almost setting. Not hearing anypony, you sit up to look for them. You hadn't even gotten half way up before you noticed Twilight. She was laying with her back turned towards you just a couple of feet away. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen, and the picnic rug was gone. Stealthily you lean over Twilight to check on her status. Fast asleep. You take a while to admire the cute sleeping pony. She looked so peaceful, if you had any place to be you'd probably delay it, since it would involve waking her up to get there. You moved closer to her and laid back down, your cheek nearly touching her back. Reaching out a hand you want to touch her coat, but you retracted it, thinking she might be insulted by it somehow. You didn't know pony etiquette, so why take the risk. In the middle of a grassy field, you laid with one of the ponies of your dreams. You felt the calm summer breeze perfectly nullifying the heat from the summer sun. Leaving just the right amount of warmth on your skin. 'Wonder if the pegasi actually calculate all this stuff.' You didn't realize how long you rested like this, as you drifted in and out of consciousness and the sky became a darker shade of orange every time you opened your eyes. Twilight sure smelled nice. Chapter 6A gust of wind blew the soothing warmth off your skin, abruptly waking you from your slumber. Sitting up and opening your eyes you noticed the sky had become a dark purple, with the horizon glowing orange as the sun disappeared behind the round hills. You leaned back on your arms in a sitting position, feeling the dry grass tickling around your fingers, and turning your head towards Twilight who laid besides you. She had shifted her body while you slept, since now she was curled up in a ball with her facing you. Watching the pony still sound asleep made you feel a bit bad for having to wake her. "Twilight. Hey, Twilight," you whisper. The mare slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, the motion quickly accompanied by a yawn. She looked up at you, then at the murky skies above you. Now awake, she quickly got up on her hooves. "Oh no, we overslept. I shouldn't have let you sleep for that long." Making a frown she looked at you. "It's probably too late to see more of Ponyville today." "No worries, it was a good nap." Trying to comfort her you smile, since you had no regrets falling asleep. You'd even had the opportunity to cut the nap short yourself, but chose not to, so it was just as much your fault for oversleeping as it was hers. You hear a sound of crumpling - or rather, straightening - paper, as a notebook popped out of thin air in front of Twilight. "But I had planned on taking you more places. I made a list, and we weren't even halfway through it yet," she said, scanning a page in her notebook. "I had a really good time. It doesn't matter if we don't get to see any more today, we'll get to see more tomorrow," you said trying to imply that you didn't mind staying here longer. Twilight lightened up an ounce from hearing your words. "Well, I guess." She smiled, and the notebook crumpled back into the nothingness whence it came. "We should get back to the library for now at least, it's getting late." "Sure thing." You nodded in agreement, drowsily getting up on your feet. The two of you then proceeded to walk back towards Ponyville. If only you had bothered to put on a hoodie before leaving for university. Merely wearing a T-shirt, the temperature drop was quite noticeable. Though it wasn't freezing, it wasn't exactly warm either. During the day, the sun had been more than enough to keep you warm from the cool late-summers day, but now that the source of heat was gone you couldn't wait to get inside and get cozy under your blanket. The light of day faded quickly. Even after the short trip back to the library you could clearly see the brightness had dimmed compared to how it was at Fluttershy's cottage. It looked like the sun moved faster after it had set, as the remaining light quickly faded. Now, the moon was rising to do the sun's job to the best of its ability. When you entered the library, the balmy air met you at the door to soothe your chilled skin. You walked in and stood still for a moment. Not wanting to waltz in and make yourself at home, you wait to see what Twilight was going to do before you felt it was appropriate to make a move. "You want a snack? We still have a ton of apples." "That'd be great, thanks." After the unicorn had walked off towards the kitchen, you decided it was alright to enter. You sat down by the center table and reached for your sleeping blanket. Having comfortably wrapped yourself in, you look towards the kitchen and see a red apple floating towards you. Twilight walked up to the table and sat down across from you, with another apple levitating besides her. Grabbing the apple in front of you, the lavender glow around it faded, and you felt its weight sink in your palm. You looked at the mare with a smirk. "I'll never get used to seeing stuff float around like that." Twilight let out a hearty chuckle. "It's hard to believe that there's a world out there without magic, and with a whole other set of physical laws. I would have loved to have the opportunity to study them somehow." "I guess we're in the same boat then." You smiled and took a bite out of the big red apple. 'Mmmmm. Juicy.' A comfortable silence filled the library as you snacked on the fruits. You finished yours first, leaving your mouth free to talk. "I guess we won't be able to fall asleep for a while." "That may be true." Twilight swallowed the last bite of her apple. As she did, her eyes brightened up like she just got an idea. She picked up the remains of the apples with magic and headed for the kitchen to throw them away. "I know what we can do. I think you'll like it." Pondering on what the purple unicorn had in store, you watch in anticipation as she returned from the kitchen. She excitedly motioned for you to follow her up the stairs. "Come on, I have something I would like to show you." Without unwrapping yourself from your blanket you accompanied her, curious to see what it is she was so eager about. Your mind started wandering as you moved towards the stairs. Then it hit you. 'Wait... What is it she wants to show me in her bedroom?' You start to get nervous as you ascended towards the door. Walking up the stairs and into her sleeping chamber, you saw books covering every wall, and her bed in an open space one floor above you, but the mare had already vanished up another spiral staircase located on the right. You had to bend forward while walking up the stairs. You could have just crawled up on all fours, like the pony leading the way, but your chose not to. Without flinching, Twilight trotted towards a wooden hatch at the top of the stairs, making it open with her magic, showing you the crystal clear night sky. You found yourself on a terrace at the top of the library. It was a long way down, and you could see the the moon lighting up all of Ponyville with its cold white glow. On the terrace there was a big telescope that Twilight was already sitting besides. She was looking into the eyepiece while tweaking and turning on different handles. Not too surprised with what the star-flanked unicorn had in mind, you smile. 'I should have guessed.' Stargazing with Twilight was fun. Even more amusing was her eagerness to show you everything the sky had to offer, which was quite a lot. Hours went by as you talked about everything from fission to star formations while taking turns looking into the telescope. Many laws of physics didn't work in the same way - or at all - here, and you could barely begin to comprehend the differences as you observed the white stars orbiting the planet you sat on. It was like being in the center of a galaxy. Some stars where moving faster across the sky than others, as they were most likely closer. Twilight told you about how the sun and moon were moved by magic, by the princesses Celestia and Luna. The thought alone baffled you. How could two ponies have the power to move the huge sun and moon, not to mention stars around a planet? Celestia and Luna had to have some serious power in them to do something this huge on a daily basis. Some things here seemed to resemble the physics you knew, though. Twilight did some adjustments and turns her telescope towards a seemingly dark section of the sky. You looked into the eyepiece and saw a white and purple space-cloud. First off, this was a darned good telescope. "It's the T42 Sparkle Nebula." Twilight remarks proudly. "It's named after you?" "They discovered it right after I was enrolled in princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. It was her decision to name it that." Happy to hear that there were still some things you didn't know about your new friends, you looked at Twilight, and give her the awe she wanted. "Now that is cool." You sat back as Twilight moved over to find the next awesome thing she wanted to show you, eager as ever. The cold was really kicking in now. You, coming from a place that had just reached the end of spring, had a hard time adjusting to summer nearly being over, with the chilly autumn weather lurking just around the corner. The thin blanket wasn't enough to keep your body isolated anymore. You didn't want Twilight to know that, though, as she was having the best time you've seen her have all day. It was worth enduring the cold to see her happy. Twilight turned to you, done with focusing the thick optical tube at a new spectacular target. As she turned around she saw you wrapping the blanket around you closer as you tried to keep warm. Smiling at you, she took a step away from the telescope. "You know, you could have just told me if you were getting cold." "Nonsense. I never get cold." Grabbing the blanket tighter you make a gesture that you were obviously joking. Twilight catches up on it and laughs lightly. "Want to go back inside?" "Maybe that's not such a bad idea, it would be bad if one of us got sick while staying here." At the bottom of the spiral staircase, you walked back into Twilight's room, standing still for a moment to sense the warmth in the room absorbing into your skin. You felt a yawn coming on, and welcomed it. "Maybe we should try to get some sleep? Then we'll have more time tomorrow to get through your list," you said in mid yawn, while forcing through a smile. Twilight stopped in a sudden realization. "Shoot! I totally forgot about fixing you somewhere to sleep tonight!" she exclaimed. "It's no problem Twilight, don't worry about it. I'll sleep where I-" "No." Twilight interrupted. "You're not sleeping on the floor again." "Then what do you propose?" Twilight took a moment to think, trotting back and forth in front of you. She halted in the middle of a turn and looked at you, her cheeks turning a familiar shade of red. "I-It's too late to go out and get something to fix anything up... so you're going to have to sleep in my bed." "I'm not kicking you out of your bed, Twilight." You said with a serious tone. "Then..." She pauses for a second. "We can share the bed. It should be big enough, and I don't need that much room anyway." Your heart started beating faster as your thoughts raced about sharing a bed with this girl, forgetting for a moment that she was a pony. Reminding yourself of this didn't slow your heart rate much, but it set perspective on how the situation was at the moment. She wasn't going to let you sleep on the floor, and you weren't going to kick her out of her own bed. "Alright, if your bed is big enough, then it won't be a problem I guess. I feel like I'm being a bother, though..." Twilight seemed a bit startled by your answer, her blush becoming more apparent, and she shied her face away from you. "T-Then it's settled. Just make yourself comfortable up there and I'll be right back." Twilight headed towards the bathroom, and you walked up the steps towards the bed. Hesitantly you took off your socks and trousers and dropped down onto the bed. Sitting down, you noticed there was only one pillow present. Feeling a bit relieved you can make yourself busy by fetching your pillow, you headed downstairs to get it. Twilight was still in the bathroom when you got back up. The bed was pretty large, considering the size of a pony. Not exactly the size of your king-sized bed back home, but not far off. There wouldn't be a problem fitting you both at least. You make yourself comfortable with your head at the opposite end of where Twilight's pillow was placed. 'Why would I be nervous about this? She's a pony, nothing would've happened anyway...' The summoning spell’s description lingered in your mind. What if it was right? Were you meant to get it on with a pony? The last thought you quickly shrugged off while you shifted under your trusted blanket. It wouldn't be your style to rush things like that anyway. Even if she was a hot human girl, you'd be a gentleman and not try anything rash. You heard the door close, followed by hoofsteps approaching the bed. "See, I told you there would be enough room." Twilight said, climbing up on the other side of the bed. You felt her soft coat gracing your leg as she was moving around, getting comfortable on her side. After she had settled herself in a good position, her flank part was in contact with the back of your thigh. Both of you facing opposite directions, none of you seemed to mind. Her touch was warm and the physical contact was fine by you. You shifted a bit yourself, casually getting a better feel of her soft fur against your skin. "This is certainly better than the floor, I have to admit." "I suspected it would be," the unicorn responded with a happy tone in her voice. You lifted your head and let it sink into the softness of your pillow once more. "Good night, Twilight." "Sleep tight." You smile as you closed your eyes, focusing on the warm touch of Twilight's flank on your leg. She had an awesome personality and all, but the thought that you might be flirting with an equine was a little uncomfortable. Still you couldn't bring yourself to pull away, even though you had plenty of space to do so. Chapter 7You kept your eyes closed, even though you woke up quite a few minutes ago. Yesterday had been tiring, but now you felt rejuvenated as you realized that you were still in Equestria. It was all too good to be true. Moving slightly, you felt Twilight’s head resting on your naked thigh. You had both shifted quite a bit while you had slept, with her now lying curled up between your spread legs as you were lying on your back. A tingling sensation in your leg told you it had fallen asleep, so you were conflicted over whether to adjust your position and risk waking her, or continue pretending to sleep. You decided on the latter option. You detected movement as Twilight woke up. Her head rose quickly as she noticed the rather friendly pose you both found yourselves in. Flustered, she clumsily tried to sneak out of bed. Only after she touched down on the floor did you end your charade with a fake yawn. "Good morning, Twilight." Startled, the mare turned and faced you. "Oh sorry, did I wake you?" Twilight responded. "Nah, don't worry about it. I was on the brink of waking up anyway." "Alright then. Erm... Want to go downstairs for some breakfast?" "Ye, sure. Just let me get dressed and I'll be right down." Twilight raised an eyebrow as she started trotting towards the bedroom door. "I don't get why you want to be dressed for every occasion. It's just breakfast." As you rolled over on the bedside to reach for your trousers you felt the damp T-shirt as a chilled membrane against your skin. Having a spare change of clothes would have been great right now. You wouldn't want to walk around smelling awful. Smelling the shirt, you concluded that the odor wasn't too bad just yet. 'I'll have to come up with some way to get this cleaned if I’m going to be staying a while.' After getting dressed you headed downstairs. Twilight had already set the table. A plate with peeled apples cut into boats, a bowl of hay and daisies, and two glasses filled with a familiar clear liquid. The mare looked at you walking down the stairs and smiled happily. "Did you sleep well?" "Ye, I guess. The myth that a bed is more comfortable than the floor is certainly confirmed." You smiled back at her. "Alright, good. Here, I prepared some apples for you." Twilight said, gesturing a hoof towards the plate. You accepted her charity and sat down by the table. Munching on the apples, your attention settled on your bag that laid on the floor besides you. ‘If there isn't an easy way to transport me home...’ You picked up the bag, with the intention of finding out what you had with you from your world. It's not like you pay any close attention to what's in there at every given moment. You opened your bag and emptied its content on the floor. A bit disappointed you looked down at a couple of textbooks, an empty water bottle, a sketchbook and a pencil case. Looking at the things scattered on the floor, you remembered that you also had your phone with you. Now in your hand, the phone showed that the time back home was now 10:23 pm, and the battery indicator displaying four out of five bars. Twilight got curious at what you are doing. She swallowed her mouthful of hay, then walked over to have a look. Your phone screen turned black as you looked up at her. You should have thought of it earlier, as rationing the battery sounded like a good idea. It could come in handy. “What’s that thing?” Twilight asked. “It’s called a cell phone,” you explained. She only looked at you with a puzzled expression. “Basically it’s a tool for communicating over long distances. Though it has a ton of other functions on it as well, like telling you what time it is, and what the weather is like,” you boasted. “That little thing can do all that?” The mare seemed impressed, but not fully convinced. Dedicated to prove your statement you turned your phone back on, before realizing that it can’t do much without a signal, which this world lacked a great deal of. “Well actually, it can’t do most of its functions here, as it needs a signal from my world to work properly. It can at least show the time back in my world, though. Look.” You showed her your phone background and point at the round clock showing the time, located in the top right corner of the screen. Twilight looks at the phone with most curious eyes, then her stare wanders off to the other items laying on the floor between you. "Judging by this it looks like you're a student, like me." "That I am," you respond apathetically. "Must be frustrating to be kept away from your studies... I certainly would have been," Twilight said with a frown of guilt. "Ha. I'm not sad about that. This is far more interesting than most of the courses I'm taking. Inter dimensional travel isn't exactly dull, you know," you said with a broad grin. You wanted to tell her how awesome your short stay here up until now had been, but you didn't want to make her suspicious about why you like it here so much. Levitating the book on thermodynamics up in front of her, Twilight flipped through a few pages. "Isn't it kind of strange?" Not elaborating more on what she meant, you were compelled to ask. "What's strange?" "You know... with us coming from completely different worlds, and still speaking the same language. Not to mention that our writing languages are almost identical. Chances like these are astronomically small." She was right, maybe it was even too good to be true. Twilight continued, "Maybe there is some connection between our worlds that made it possible to summon you here.” You weren't sure on the matter yourself, but you want to keep Twilight’s spirit up. "You know, you might be onto something." "Maybe, but we still need the resources of the archives to determine anything for certain." "So, that would be where we're heading next?" Twilight nodded. "There are books there on just about everything. I'm sure we can find a spell there that will be able to get you home as well." Twilight said it while smiling, but somehow it seemed that the smile was a bit heavier to maintain as she spoke the words. Was it because of the thought of making you leave? "Guess I'll have to make hay of the situation then. Like going to Pinkie's party tonight is sure to be a good time, right?" you said attempting to lighten her up. Her smile became more sincere again as she sighed softly. "True," she said as she levitates a piece of apple towards her with magic, and eats it. Finished gobbling down your breakfast, you proceeded to put your accessories back into the bag in a neat manner, and your dormant phone back in your pocket. Just as you were done you heard the front door open. You turned your head and saw a purple lizard walking in. You recognized the dragon right away. Except from the real-life scaly appearance, Spike was just like you remembered him. He lazily walked past you and greeted you both, without actually looking at you. "Hi there, Twilight. I'm back. And we have a guest, how nice." Looking like he was on the verge of falling asleep, Twilight gave of an attention-catching cough. "A-hem... Spike, you OK?" She asked the dragon that didn't even seem to notice that there was a strange creature sitting in their living room. "Yeah yeah, I'm just tired from the trip is all. I've been traveling all night." In amazement you studied the green-spiked dragon. He was roughly half the height of a pony. The plump, baby dragon body was covered in shiny purple scales, and spikes of bright green was located on his head, back and tail. Twilight giggled, then looked over at you. "This is Spike, my number one assistant." Still a bit shocked at the sight of a real life dragon you struggled to get your mouth going to greet him. He certainly seemed much more dragon like than he did on television. "Erm... Hi there," you muttered with your warm smile. Spike turned around from his original direction and locked his eyes on you, his head cocking back a notch from noticing your appearance. His face of surprise quickly faded as it was replaced by a raised eyebrow, and the dragon pointed a claw at you. "Yeah, Hi. Who are you anyway?" Twilight stood up and answered before you got a chance to. "I summoned him here while you were absent when trying out a new spell. And we're trying to find a way to send him back." Hearing the purple unicorn's explanation the dragon lets out a heavy sigh. Looking back up at you, Spike walked to you with a warm-hearted smile and his arm stretched out. "Alright well, nice to meet you pal. Sorry for all the trouble we've caused you." You went in for the handshake still sitting down, looking eye to eye with the green-spiked creature, his friendly smile assuring you he was indeed a kind being. "My visit has been very pleasant this far, so no hard feelings." "That's good to hear at least." The dragon stretched his short arms in a yawn before he continued. "But if you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. I'm really tired." "Actually, Spike. Could you do me a favor first?" Twilight said while trotting towards him. "Sure Twilight, what's up?" "I need you to send a letter to the princess for me." Spike looked to his left and see a piece of purple glowing parchment and quill in the air besides him. Celestia was quick to reply as Spike burped up a letter before he could even reach his bed. Annoyed the dragon picked up the scroll and walked back downstairs to deliver it to Twilight. “Now can I go to sleep?” “Eh, sorry. Of course.” Both you and Twilight watched the dragon disappear up the stairs once more, then opening the letter, Twilight began to read: “My most faithful student, your request to gain access to the archives was hardly necessary. Being my personal protégé, you are always welcomed in any facility at the university of Canterlot. Furthermore, the reason behind your request awakes even my interest, and the other scientists will be here to assist you in resolving the matter. A human in Equestria is a rare happening, but not unheard of. Usually they come here with a purpose, though I've never heard of one being summoned here by anypony before. Perhaps that is something you ought to look into as well. I would have sent the royal carriage to pick you up so you could get here as soon as possible, but I sense it would be better to let things go at a more enjoyable pace considering the circumstances. I’ll be awaiting your arrival. Your proud mentor, princess Celestia.” Twilight gazed at the letter with a puzzled look. “What circumstances?” she repeated. The letter you sent to the princess had contained all the information you knew, except from the detail of what spell was used. What Twilight wouldn't let herself keep out, was which book she had used. She hadn't mentioned the title, but the description somewhere along the lines of, “Some author that had written a book about the strongest of pony emotions,” might have been a give-away. Perhaps Celestia knew of the book, and figured out which spell could have done the summoning. You might have thought of this right away, but it seemed like Twilight was having a harder time piecing together the puzzle. She was still looking at the last section of the letter with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe she's holding back some information.” You said trying to convince her to pursue those thoughts later. “You may be right. We should get to Canterlot as soon as possible and get to the bottom of this. I’m also very curious what she meant with humans usually coming here with a purpose” “So, how do we get there?” “Since the princess didn't send us transportation, I guess we have to get there by train,” she concluded. “We’ll go to the station and head out right away, if that’s alright with you.” “Aren't you forgetting about Pinkie’s party?” Twilight was snapped out of her serious tone. “Oh, and there was that.” Raising a hoof to her chin, she thought for a moment. “I guess we should make time for the party. We would be letting everypony down if we decided not to show up.” ‘Yay.’ You were just as interested as Twilight in learning more about the spell, this purpose, and if you would be able to go home, but you would also want to see the other ponies once more now that you had the chance to. Twilight decided that you should at least order the train tickets today, so that you were as ready for the coming day as possible. It was a good reason to get outside too, as you could get on with the sightseeing after the purchase had been done. At the train station, you looked intensely at a schedule next to the window where Twilight is ordering tickets. Your head tilting forty-five degrees. You had thought that there was some sort of system for telling the time in Equestria, but the times on the train schedule were illustrated with three pictures. Each one had a horizontal line with a yellow circle located on different places around it. It was probably illustrating that the train came three times during the day, once in the morning, illustrated by the circle being close to the line on the left side. Once mid-day, shown with the circle placed in the middle above the line. And once in the evening, with the circle lying on the right of the horizontal line. You smiled to yourself as you looked at the almost childish sketch of a schedule. ‘Such a laid back system,’ you thought as you heard hoofsteps against the wooden floor. Twilight trotted towards you with two pieces of red paper in her mouth. As she walked she effortlessly put the tickets into her satchel. The ponies were really efficient for creatures with no arms. “All done?” you asked. She looked back up at you. “Indeed,” she replied smiling. You smiled back at her, then looked over at the schedule board again. “How do you tell the time? Do you only use the sun as a reference?” The mare giggles behind a raised hoof at your question, then gazed at you with a nearly naughty look, her eyes half closed. “Well, I’ll tell you how we tell the time, if you tell me what a jetlag is.” Crossing your arms you look at Twilight, returning the same look. “Deal.” What a sneaky pony. You had explained her the concept of jet lag on your way back into town, which took quite some effort. When it had been your turn to receive information, she had told you their ways of telling time didn't differ much from your own. The reason for having the illustrations on the schedule was that clocks weren't very common among the Ponyvillians, not because they were poor, it just wasn't a necessity. Twilight continued to show you around Ponyville in the order things were written on her list. To your surprise she didn't show you Carousel Boutique until every other shop in town was explored. ‘Wouldn't this be where Rarity works and lives?’ you thought when walking towards the very recognizable round building. Twilight had mentioned the fashion pony on a few occasions, so you knew she was in this world somewhere. Standing outside the dress shop, you could see dresses and suits meant for ponies in every visible window. Twilight pointed a hoof at the building while looking at her notebook that hovered in front of her, checking off a box with a levitating pencil. “And this is the last place on the list, this is where everypony gets their festivity clothes and accessories.” Twilight explained. Nothing about Rarity mentioned? “Think we've seen everything in town now, ey?” “Yup, that’s it. If I haven’t forgotten anything,” she said while squinting her eyes, going through her list to make sure nothing had been left out. Your curiosity spiked. How could you put this without seeming too interested? “So what about this last friend of yours that you've talked about? Who was it... erm, Rarity? Doesn't she live in Ponyville?” You felt like you had jumped off a cliff, waiting to see if your parachute would open and give you a safe landing. You had read enough fan fictions to know that the ponies always freaked when confronted with the fact that there was a show about them in another world. Twilight’s cute smile didn't fade as she answered your question. “Oh, Rarity actually used to run this very shop, her sense of fashion is unmatched in all of Equestria. But she moved to Canterlot and runs her own store there now. It was a dream of hers since she was a filly. I was actually hoping we would be able to see her when we get there.” ‘Well, that was pretty anti-climactic.’ Parachute safely deployed. “So what now, Twilight?” “What about getting a bite to eat, then get ready for the party? It’s about time now anyway.” You nodded in agreement with a broad smile. You had no doubt that the party was going to be awesomeness in epic proportions, but what if all they did at the party was to play pin the tail, or go bobbing for apples... Not really your idea of a party. The fact that you would have another experience with all the ponies would make up for it, though. Even if the party itself was dull. Mr. Cake had happily served you the apple pie you ordered. It felt like the town was already used to having you around, as few ponies even bothered to turn their heads in your direction anymore. Though still they would greet you with an acknowledged nod when walking by. After lunch, you went to the library to freshen up before going to the party, which was being held at a house Twilight had pointed out during your sightseeing. You didn't recognize the house, nor the colt standing outside of it. He was bouncing around and hanging up balloons, his behavior reminding you of Pinkie. Back at the library you had felt a dire need to wash your T-shirt. If you were going to a party with your new-made friends present, you did not want to smell bad. You had the great idea of washing your shirt while taking a shower, using some soap Twilight had given you. Then you asked the unicorn if she could drain the water out of the fabric with magic. She boasted how it was a simple task, and with a lavender glow, the water in the shirt was removed easily in a stream that flowed through the air and to the kitchen sink. Twilight didn't get why you couldn't just go to the party without clothes. No one else was going to be dressed. You had told her you’d feel much more appropriate with clothes on. You were nearly at the designated party house when Twilight looked up at you from having been silent since you had left the library. “I’m glad that you’re here to go to the party with me.” Twilight smiled at you. “Wouldn't it be enough if I wasn't here?” you smirked back at her. "Well, everypony has a date to the party except me, so I wasn't sure about attending, but since you're here I guess it’s fine." Startled by her own words she quickly continued, “I’m not implying that we’re on a date, just that at least I have someone to talk to if I felt left out.” Twilight tried to hide her flushed face by looking straight ahead, though it was still obvious. "Of course, if everyone ends up doing their own things, I would be equally as much left out as you would." You reassured Twilight with a smile. You approached the door to a house covered in balloons and party streamers. Twilight walked up and knocked on the door. Music could be heard inside, with the familiar sound of a subwoofer beating in some rhythm. The colt who answered the door was a new face. He had a light grey coat with a short, dark blue, frizzled mane. Lifting up his rather stylish, star shaped sunglasses he looked at the two of you as his smile widened from ear to ear. “Twilight, You’re here! And not a moment too soon, you two are the last guests to arrive. Everypony else is already inside. Come on, you don’t want to miss out on the games do ya?” He spoke loudly to be heard over the music. Out from behind the colt bounced a more familiar pink earth pony. “There you are! I’m so glad you made it. Not that I ever thought you wouldn't come but I was getting worried you’d be late. And now since you’re not late and that both our guests of honor has arrived we can start up the festivities!” Pinkie bounced up in the air, shaking her legs in excitement. The grey colt turns to the pink pony and sighs, still wearing his wide energetic smile. “How can I be a guest of honor in my own house. It’s you who should be the guest of honor Pinkie.” The pink mare quickly kissed the colt on the cheek to conclude the discussion quickly then turned to you and Twilight, leaving the colt blushing. “Come come inside. Everyone is waiting.” You and Twilight looked at each other with expressionless looks. The unicorn took the lead and walked in, with you in hot pursuit. Inside there was an explosion of colors covering the walls and ceiling, and a table in the back held a mountain of refreshments, being mostly cakes, cupcakes of all colors, and bowls of punch. It wasn't crowded like you had imagined it would be. In fact, there were only two ponies you didn't recognize, one being the colt who opened the door, the second being a rather large, dark green maned colt who was standing next to Applejack. The whole gang - with the exception of Rarity - was here, standing around a table with a tray of snacks on it while talking loudly to compete with the music’s volume. Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing besides you and Twilight, led you to the middle of the living room. “Help yourself to something to drink and come join us.” Before you realized she was gone, you saw the party pony already standing among her friends by the table across the room. Walking over to a bowl of punch, you and Twilight grab a cup each and scoop them into the purple liquid. Twilight didn't hesitate to gulp down all of her cup’s content, before filling it up a second time. She then headed towards the others. Taking a sip of the content in your own cup, your eyes widened. So many questions flew through your mind the instant you felt the burning sensation that followed the liquid down your throat. Yet at the same time, a lot of things made more sense. ‘Alcohol?’ Chapter 8At first you didn’t want to indulge yourself in consuming too much alcohol. Staying sober for the event seemed to make more sense, as you might have mentioned stuff you would regret later. Like implying something you shouldn’t know. Still, you would drink the occasional cup of punch as everyone else seemed very eager to leave their sober state. Without having noticed her leaving the room - which you could have swore never happened - Pinkie came into the living room dragging a tub. Not to your surprise it was filled with water and bobbing apples. Rainbow and Applejack reacted immediately, trotting towards the tub. The two friends gave eachother a smirk and proceeded to dunk their heads into the water. Pinkie Pie looked at her two friends with a satisfied grin. Then disappeared once more to get a large piece of cardboard. Supporting it between her front hooves she placed it in a vacant spot on the living room wall. Another sense of familiarity awakened as the mare walked over to you from the cardboard pony. With a green tassel somehow stuck to her hoof, she stretches her front leg towards you, gesturing you to grab the fake tail. “Here! You should totally go first as you’re the guest of honor! All you have to do is take the tail and pin it on the pony while blindfolded.” It was an honor you’d rather pass this time around. “I would’ve loved to, but...” Looking around, your mind raced to find a reason to delay the games a little more. Your eyes locked on Twilight, who stood behind you, sipping her punch. “... On the way over, I promised Twilight to let her go first if the situation ever arose.” She put on a sly smirk and nodded in understanding. “Oh. Well in that case...” Twilight didn’t get a say in the matter before Pinkie had her blindfolded and tucked the tassel in her mouth. It was like being in a birthday party for a seven year old, excluding the alcohol. Even though the party went pretty much like expected, there were some things that made up for the silly games. One being the sweet-scented pony that dedicated a good five minutes to make you play with them instead of just standing with Twilight and Applejack all night. You had already succumbed to her will some time before actually going ahead and grabbing the tassel that was eagerly waved in front of you, but it brought you great enjoyment to have Pinkie’s attention. The games turned out to be quite fun, at least once you had consumed enough punch. Though, to your dismay, you were really bad at pin the tail, and your poorly designed apple-catching mouth never got a good grip on the biggest apples. Stabbing the cardboard pony in the neck, you took off the blindfolds to inspect your result. Surely you had gotten closer this time around. Looking at the disappointing sight, you couldn’t help but notice a shade of blue lingering in your peripheral vision. Turning your head you met the analyzing face of Rainbow Dash. For a while, she just stood there drunkenly staring, before breaking it off with a satisfied smile. “Would you come outside for just a second? There’s something I’d like you to help me with.” Not questioning what this was about, you stumbled after her. Once outside, the pegasus took a big leap from the entrance so that she landed some distance from the house. The leap would have looked rather majestic if it wasn’t for Rainbow losing her balance on touchdown. You hastily walked after her as she turned around and waited for you to approach. Rainbow started pacing back and forth in front of you like a sergeant speaking to a strict line of soldiers in full salute. “Alright, I have this idea for a trick,” Rainbow started, her voice sounding rather excited. “I’ve thought it through numerous times in my head, and it’s going to be undeniably awesome.” Not sure what to expect, you still couldn’t contain your own excitement. You grinned from ear to ear as you listened to what was being said. “So, what did you have in mind?” “It would be too complicated to explain. Just roll with it.” She turned her back to you and lifted her hind legs, keeping half of her body afloat with flapping wings and front hooves planted on the ground. You took the hint and gripped firmly around the legs in your reach. “Alright, now swing me around as fast as you can!” “Are you sure about this? I don’t see how this will end well.” “I got complete control, don’t worry.” “Okay then... Here I go.” Gaining rotary momentum by twisting your body, you slung the pony around and started spinning. She was light; little effort had to be put in for her to be lifted off the ground. Just after takeoff, she lifted her front legs and stretched them forwards and started flapping her wings vigorously. The pony became harder to hold back as you felt her actions were putting strain on your arms. “Don’t let go before I tell you!” You gripped your hands tighter. Her hooves acted like a good pommel as they were slightly thicker than where you were holding above her ankle. It didn’t take long before you sensed that you wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. You tried to lean back to make up for the force Rainbow was acting forwards, and with you being intoxicated while spinning at a rapidly increasing speed, you felt your common sense starting to tingle. “Just... a bit... more!” The pegasus was obviously used to such high velocities, but you yourself had now lost every sense of direction. Your only focus was on not letting go prematurely. That was when she started jerking her body up and down, forcing the spin to go from a horizontal to a diagonal motion. Praying that this wouldn’t go on much longer, you heard Rainbow give the signal. “GO!!” When her body was about to reach the highest point of the spin, you let go. Immediately after releasing you fell backwards, and after a useless struggle for balance you tumbled over and rolled on the ground. Rainbow Dash went in the opposite direction. Only capturing a tiny glimpse of cyan color you saw that she got quite a bit of air with your throw alone. She was still ascending as you quickly got up and tried to get your bearings so you could see what the pegasus was doing. While ascending, she had spun around her vertical axis, but with a controlled movement she gained complete authority of her body and went directly into a loop. You wanted to see more of the fruits of your combined labor, but you were too disoriented to even keep yourself standing. You squatted down next to the wall instead of involuntarily falling back down on the ground. “What’s happening out here?” You turned your head towards the door you and Rainbow had exited a minute ago, meeting the eyes of Twilight and Fluttershy. One was looking at you questionably while the other immediately rushed off to chase after her marefriend. “Oh... Be careful Dashie!” Fluttershy shouted after the pegasus doing flips and turns dangerously close to the ground and surrounding houses. Your stare following the two pegasi was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Having fun out here?” Twilight said smirking at you. Leaning your head back looking up at the sky you let out a deep sigh. “Heh... I guess you could say that.” Only now you realized it had actually gotten chilly outside as the sun had already set, with only a shade of orange looming in the horizon as evidence that it had once been in the sky. “Well, good.” She walked down the steps and sat down next to you. “Seems to me that you have no problem finding common ground with anypony.” Perhaps you had “cheated” a little too much tonight. Relying on information you already knew to find the right things to say would get suspicious if used too recklessly. Though you didn’t think that you were in a danger zone just yet. “They make it pretty easy, as everyone here are really nice. Making friends is no problem at all.” You looked over at Twilight who turned her eyes towards the sky and smiled. “You’re spot on about that. I had a pretty hard time making friends before coming here. But now I’m making new friends pretty much every time I go out.” “You mean to say that not everypony is like those here in Ponyville?” You asked curiously. “I guess I was a part of my problem too. But no, I think Ponyville is special. I used to live in the capital, ponies there can get pretty full of themselves,” she explained. “I give up," said an exhausted Fluttershy as she walked up to you and Twilight. "She’s impossible to calm down once she gets started.” “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” you said, hoping you were correct. “Oh, I have no doubts about that.” Frustration could be sensed from her voice. “I’m just worried that her being fine will be briefly interrupted by a visit to the hospital.” “It happens that often, huh?” You said in surprise, both because of what she said, and how she said it. She really had no problem shoving away her shyness when she was concerned about her friends. Not much more than a sigh could be exchanged before the sound of a jet engine gradually became more apparent. A feeling of dread filled your stomach. “Mother of - “ You reflexively braced yourself for impact. “wooAAAH!” Everything went black for a moment as you felt the collision, followed by the feeling of your body tumbling some unknown distance down the dirt road. Lying on your back you couldn’t help but laugh at the familiar situation. Seemed like your instincts had helped you keep your breath this time. And the pain, if there was any, was probably dampened by the numbness already covering your body. Rainbow Dash stumbled up on her hooves, then sat her flank back down on the ground while rubbing her head. “Ow. Sorry about that. I seem to be bumping into you a lot lately.” “ Figuratively and literally! Heh. Don’t worry about me, I don’t mind,” you said through a light chuckle. While getting back up you noticed that the two of you had flown quite a bit further than you anticipated. Fluttershy was still trotting over with Twilight right behind her. Fluttershy embraced her Dashie in a hug. “Are you alright? Are you hurt? Do we need to go to the hospital again?” “Calm down Fluttershy,” Rainbow answered. “Give me some credit, it’s been like 3 weeks since last time I got a concussion.” Twilight only smiled and rolled her eyes when she saw you were both in good enough shape to laugh it off. You gave her goofy grin while starting to walk back the direction you and Rainbow had tumbled. “Should we head back inside, you guys? Looks like Mr. Pinkie wants us to play more pin the tail,” you said pointing at the colt standing in the door of the party house. The gray colt was looking back at you while intensely waving the green tail back and forth. “Come on guys! More fun to be had in here!” You all headed back to the house, but before you could enter, something grabbed you and pulled you back outside. You were pretty open minded for going wherever it took the least effort to go, and since putting up any resistance didn’t seem very convenient, you just tagged along. “Don’t think you’ve got me fooled mister.” The squeaky voice was impossible to misplace. Pinkie let go of your shirt and turned to you with her large magnifying glass back in front of her left eye. The anxiety was back. Was she about to blow your cover for real this time? Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and made another serious look appear on her face. It really gave her a whole new image than her usual goofy and bright self. “You’re leaving us aren’t you?!” left the mare’s lips as her eyes started to look more depressed than angry. “You say what? Is that what you think I’m hiding?” “It’s one of the things I know you’re hiding, and it’s the thing that matters right now.” What you are doing that gives away all your secrets to this bouncing ball of pink fluff, you would probably never know or understand. But at least she wasn’t out to make your life difficult. “Well, yes. Twilight and I are leaving tomorrow to go to Canterlot. Twilight thinks we can find a way of getting me home there. Sorry for not telling you, I just kinda assumed everyone knew.” “Huh, I guess that makes sense.” She smiled and started to bounce in place, then slowly stopping after a little while, though still smiling happily. “I just have a feeling this is the last time we’ll see you, you know. It’s kinda sad just getting a new friend then never seeing him again.” You realized what she was saying might be true, if you do have a chance to get home, you should probably consider taking it. This world is what you’ve dreamed of for months, but is it worth discarding your old life, where you have friends, family, and people expecting you to get your assignment done by next Friday? “My time here has been a dream come true, I’ll never forget you guys.” You said it with complete sincerity. The party pony looked up at you with a faint smile. She was surprisingly sharp, it seemed she always had everything figured out. “You promise?” You were about to answer an honest ‘yes’, but in a flash you get a much better idea. With a smirk on your face you start off by motioning your right hand diagonally across your chest, then recited the incantation you had heard dozens of times before coming here. “Cross my heart.” You moved your hand up and pointed towards the sky, “and hope to fly.” Now gently clenching your left fist you moved it to a closed eye. “Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie looks at you with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, then she started to bounce excitingly around you. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” You couldn’t think of anything bad that would happen from confirming her suspicions, she had it all pretty much figured out anyway, she deserved that much. It would be your little secret. The next thing you know, loud knocks against the wooden bedroom door made your mind cringe. The yelling that came after didn’t help your craving for quiet. “Erm, Twilight? There are tickets for the train that leaves at sunrise on the table downstairs, you sure you should still be sleeping?” You recognized the voice outside as Spike. Slowly opening your eyes you found yourself lying flat out on the bed. You stared at the ceiling as you took a moment to analyse your condition. Hangover, not too bad. Mouth, in need of saturation. Belly, being pressured and felt very warm. ‘Warm?’ You noticed that there was movement around your chest area. You looked down and saw a purple, messy maned unicorn sound asleep lying half across your abdomen. In no condition to deal with the situation, you laid your head back down on the bed. The absence of a pillow gave you a longing for one. You let the feeling go quickly as you concluded that finding, fetching and placing the pillow under your head wasn’t worth the effort. The feeling of the soft pony on top of you made up for it anyway. ‘Nothing happened after we got home, right? Probably not...’ You heard more knocks, then the creaking sound of the old door opening. “Twilight?” Spike poked his head inside the room. Twilight’s breathing changed, and she shut her eyes tighter, probably awake at this point. “Will you be taking the train today or not?” the dragon pursued. She opened her eyes and straightened up her neck. Reacting to the intimate position in the same manner as she did the morning before, she stumbled backwards and fell off the bed, giving off a loud yelp as she broke the fall with her rump. Rubbing her bruised flank with a hoof, she got up and looked outside the window. The sun was just rising up over the horizon. “Crud! We’re going to be late!” Chapter 9You walked downstairs whilst rubbing some very persistent sleep out of your eyes. The light throbbing in your head was accompanied by a strong urge to pee, and each step down the stairs enhanced the intensity of both feelings. Twilight was running around in a seemingly random pattern as she collected books and parchment, levitating them into a satchel sitting on the center table. Meanwhile, Spike was cleaning up the candles and paint that had been making a mess on the floor ever since you first arrived in Equestria. “You sure know how to make a big mess in such short amount of time,” said Spike while scrubbing the paint that made up the runic circle. “I’m sorry, there’s been so much going on I never found the time to clean up.” Trotting over to the satchel, she put a final vial of ink into the bag before closing it. “There, that should be everything I need for the trip,” Twilight concluded and proceeded to float the satchel onto her back while moving towards the coat hanger. Spike noticed her putting on a scarf and stood up to shoot a concerned glance her way. “You’re not even going to eat breakfast?” you heard Spike say while you threw your own bag over your shoulders. “There’s no time for that now, Spike. The train won’t wait for us if we’re late.” It looked like she just fully realized this herself, because as soon as she was done saying it she hurried even more. “Well... when will you be back?” Twilight seemed to calm down somewhat after hearing her dear assistant worry. Giving him a reassuring smile, she walked over to give him a hug. “I don’t know Spike. Not too long I hope. But I know I’ll need you to take care of the library while I’m gone.” She took a step back and looked him in the eyes. “Are you up to the task?” She said it like it was a challenge, and Spike gave her a brave smile. “No problem!” He said proudly with his claws on the hips and his chest buffed. “I’ll take care of things here, I am a dragon after all.” Twilight smiled at him. “Good, I knew I could count on you.” Her horn started glowing as she started to head towards the door, and a scarf covered in a lavender aura flew your way. “And this is for you. It’s chilly outside.” “Fair enough. Thanks.” You smiled gratefully as you gripped the soft piece of fabric and tossed it around your neck as you went for the door. Before bending down to walk out the pony-sized opening, you turned to your scaly acquaintance. “It was really nice meeting you, Spike. Take care.” He looked at you with a grin. “Nice to meeting you too. Hope you find what you’re looking for.” You nodded back at him, then stepped outside. You felt a little guilty having Twilight leave the little dragon here all by himself on your account. Then again, he wasn’t all alone in Ponyville. Fluttershy would probably be more than happy to keep him company if need be. Besides, Twilight would be back as soon as she could. As soon as you were gone... The cold air was brushing against your exposed face and arms, making you yearn for the warmth back at the cozy library. Half of the sun was already shining its light over the horizon, and you had trouble keeping up with Twilight as she was nearly in a full gallop through town. The streets that had been crawling with ponies during the day now looked desolate. Only a few ponies opening their stores were sighted as you rushed to the train station. After passing the town square, you saw the station up ahead, with the train already docked. “There it is! Let’s hurry, it might leave at any moment now!” Twilight yelled and picked up the pace even more, like you weren’t falling behind enough already. You made a valiant effort to shout back despite your lack of breath. “Wait up!” She didn’t show any signs of slowing down, so you had no choice than to just keep up to the best of your ability. “You have four legs! It’s not fair!” Exhausted, you caught up with Twilight who stood on the platform waiting for you. You walked up the steps and bent down to catch your breath. Twilight barely looked phased from the morning run. “It’s... far too early... to be running around.” “Well, we made it, didn’t we?” Twilight stated happily. “The conductor hasn’t even entered the train yet.” She gestured towards to a Pony wearing a blue conductor vest and hat, who was walking directly towards you. “Good morning there, you two,” said the colt. He sounded very formal, and his voice was surprisingly deep, considering his size. “Might one of you be Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You and Twilight looked at one-another, then back to the conductor. “Yes... I am Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stated. “Did you think there was a faint possibility that it was me who was Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You said jokingly. The conductor gave off a short laugh. “Oh, no, of course not,” he said while taking off his rather fancy hat. “I was told by a royal guard who was told by Princess Celestia personally that I was to make sure you caught the train today. Apparently you are going to Canterlot, correct?” “The princess must really want to see us.” said Twilight with a cheer. “More importantly,” you said while straightening up and looked at the conductor pony. “Does that mean you can wait just a minute longer?” He looked a little confused as to why you made the request. “I suppose so,” he answered. “May I ask why?” “Is something wrong?” Twilight inquired. Finally having caught your breath, you immediately made a sprint for the small outhouse with a moon engraved on the door that stood next to the platform. “I just really gotta go. Be right back!” You swiftly opened the door and slammed it shut behind you. You were surprised to see that the toilet looked oddly like a normal one. Well, you were used to seeing toilets like this all the time, but what surprised you was it didn’t have any special design that made it seem customized for the usage of ponies. You would think that at least something would be different from a normal human made outhouse - you had a difficult time imagining Twilight pooping on this thing. You supposed it was a general statement, though. Not that it made anything less convenient. The pressure relief was just as satisfactory. The train was just as empty as the streets of Ponyville at this hour. The interior of the car looked much like the living room of a wooden house, except the only furniture were benches and tables bolted to the floor and walls. The two of you chose to get seated on either side of a fold-out table. The seats were simple benches with fluffy, red cushions on the seat and back, and certainly of higher quality than what you were used to. The cushions were soft and would definitely make the journey a comfortable one. You placed your bags underneath the table as you sat down. The steam whistle blew, and you felt the train accelerate as it started its trip towards Canterlot. For a long while you and Twilight simply stared out the window at Ponyville as it was slowly devoured by the horizon. Twilight broke the silence after Ponyville was out of sight. “Did you ever expect to go to another dimension?” You figured you might as well answer honestly. “No, but sometimes I would hope for something like this to happen.” Twilight perked up and turned away from the window to look at you. “Really? Weren’t you happy where you were?” She seemed more interested now than when she asked the first question. You took a moment to think about it before trying to satisfy Twilight’s curiosity. “Have you ever read a fiction novel you couldn’t put down? Something so good you would wish that it was real, or that you could experience some of its content first-hand?” “It happens, of course. But I never lose sight of what is real and what isn’t.” “Well, sometimes after I read a novel, I long for a place where things are different. Maybe because the author made his world so perfect that perhaps it wouldn’t be normal not to long for it. As for separating fiction and reality... This world would be considered fiction in my world. So how am I supposed to categorize the two now?” You grinned. Twilight sat across the table like a dog would sit on a sofa, which to you looked a little awkward. Why wouldn’t they have more pony-friendly seats? “I can see what you mean, but that doesn’t really answer my question.” “I guess I just wanted to experience something otherworldly,” you answered. Like this, conversation topics flew by. Among other things you had asked if she knew who invented the Equestrian steam engine. She had told you the invention was credited to a scholar named Intuition about a hundred years ago. No one had bothered making any improvements to his train designs, so they still used the original blueprints when building new cars and locomotives. The conversations eventually came to a stop, as both you and Twilight ended up just staring out the window. Thinking about whatever came to mind, you slipped back into analyzing the situation with Twilight and the summoning spell. You decided you wanted to hear what she was thinking of this whole situation. "Why do you think the spell did what it did?" you asked her. It took a little while before she answered. "I’ve been thinking about it, and I have ruled it down to three possibilities." She took a moment to face you before continuing. "The first option would be that the spell didn't work, Meaning it wouldn't have done anything, or done something it wasn't designed for. The latter is rather rare, but obviously something did happen. Second option, the spell did exactly what it was designed for, but the diagram or the description was wrong. To confirm those I need to study the rune I used to fully understand the design and its purpose." Twilight took a long pause as she drifted away into her own thoughts. "And the third possibility?" You already had a faint idea of what it was going to be, but wanted to hear her say it anyway. Twilight turned her gaze to the window. "Third option. It did work. The description is without flaw, and the spell did what it was made for." The redness returned to her cheeks. You wanted to think that you now knew what you both were thinking, but you wouldn't pursue it further based on that assumption. With what the third option implied in mind, a mix of feelings built up in your chest. "Well, which do you think is more likely?" Now you were starting to feel uneasy, like a lump was stuck in your throat. "I don't know what to think. At first I thought it had to be option one or two, but now I'm not so sure,” she explained, then paused for a second. “I want to go to the Canterlot archives to investigate it further before saying anything for certain." You felt your heart beating faster. You hadn't thought this through. How were you going to respond to what she was saying? Twilight continued before you got to say anything. "But leaving the why aside. Going to research the spell might give us a clue how to get you home." Twilight looked up at you, with her eyes betraying her smile. You smiled back at her, wanting to reassure her somehow. "What I do know is that coming here has been one of the best experiences of my life. Also, I feel that spending a day just talking with you wouldn't have been a day wasted." Twilight giggled behind a hoof for a moment before looking back at you. "You're really a smooth talker, you know that?" "I've had my suspicions for a while." You said with a smug tone. After jokingly leaving the subject, and with both of you being tired from the night before, the conversations died down into thoughts. You hadn’t asked her how long the journey would take, but even after a little while there were no signs of a tall castle. And eventually, you dozed off. “Hello? Wake up, this is your stop.” You tried to ignore the disturbance at first, but quickly remembered where you were, and with a twitch you came to your senses. “Ah good. We’ve arrived in Canterlot. You should wake up your friend and leave the train. Exits are on the left side of the car.” the conductor instructed as he left. You saw Twilight curled up on the red cushions facing you, breathing lightly as she slept. You would have just let her sleep if the circumstances were different, but you thought it best if you got off the train. The conductor hadn’t been able to wake her by speaking to her, so you nudged her hoof with your shoe. “Twilight. I think we’re here.” you said, hoping you didn’t have to poke her harder. She gave off a cute grunt before slowly raising her head to look out the window. “Wha... Oh, shoot. I slept the whole trip?” She quickly got up and let herself down on the floor. “Come on, we’re getting off,” she ordered as she used her magic to pick up her bag. Watching her placing it on her back reminded you of your own bag. You gracefully threw yourself back to grab it by the strap. You didn’t know how long the train ride had lasted, but seeing the sun nearly in the middle of the sky you would guess four to six hours. Or ten to twelve, depending on whether it was just past or just before noon; you couldn’t really distinguish if it was still early, or getting late. The latter seemed unlikely as it didn’t feel like you had slept that long. All around you heard the ambience of the talking crowd and the screeching trains. For an instant it got rather loud as a train blew its whistle on the opposite side of the platform. You could barely make out Twilight instructing you to follow her over all the ruckus. It was just like being in a shopping mall at rush hour, plus trains. The Canterlot train station looked a lot different than the one in Ponyville. For one thing it was bigger, it reminded you more of a central station like you would expect them to look back home, only scaled down a notch. Several platforms with tracks on either side were covered with ponies waiting for their transportation. The station was pretty much out in the open as the only thing separating it from the city were shops that seemed to sell things from all corners of Equestria. One looked to be selling cherries. Another close to it sold porcelain sets of cups and plates. Rather, the place was more like a medieval dock than a train station. Like it was a place where out of towners could come and make their wares known to the capital. Twilight trotted in the direction of a tall tower that could be seen rising up above the other buildings. As you were shadowing her through the masses, you noticed the stares of ponies that followed you. You did the only thing you could do, which was to smile and nod at the most intensive on-lookers. You didn’t take it as offensive; if a pony was walking through a crowd back home, he would probably get bombarded by stares too. After the density of ponies was thinning out, you began to admire the surroundings. Looking up at the white tower you started to feel excited about meeting Celestia, and perhaps even Luna. But the peak of excitement occurred when you heard something familiar approaching behind you through the crowd. “Twilight, dear. Wait up!” You could smell the perfume before you had fully turned around, which only strengthened your suspicions. Twilight had also heard, and turned to meet her glamorous friend. “Rarity? Hey!” She traced back to meet Rarity half way, and they embraced eachother with a hug. “It’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?” said Twilight cheerfully. You stood behind her admiring the white unicorn, your eyes ending up on her large pink hat. It was round with a purple ribbon tied around the base of the crown and in the wide rim on the left rested a pair of large white roses. “I was here waiting for you, of course.” She looked over at you. “And this must be our guest that I've heard about. Pleasure to meet you.” You decided to try and impress her. “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rarity,” you said as you bowed graciously. “Oh my, humans are certainly well mannered, aren't they.” She seemed pleased and looked up at you with dazzling eyes. “But I left the ‘Miss’ behind almost six months ago. It’s ‘Madame’ nowadays.” she said while casually waving a hoof. “Well, I guess a late congratulation is in order then.” You gave her another short bow. “Why, thank you dear.” She smiled and turned her head back to Twilight. “I like him. I don’t think there will be any problem with letting you two stay with me.” Twilight looked mildly confused hearing what she said. “Not that I mind, but how did it end up with us staying at your place? I sort of assumed that...” “Oh, how rude of me,” Rarity interrupted her. “Celestia asked me if I would’ve liked to house you while you were staying. She also told me which train you would be arriving with, but when the train arrived I couldn’t spot you anywhere and I thought you might have missed it. I was just about leaving when I saw you walking out at the other end of the platform.” “Well that was thoughtful of her, I was wondering how I was going to spend some time with you while researching. This makes everything a whole lot simpler.” Twilight smiled and nodded in understanding. “And it’s good to see someone else that are always trying to look their best.” She said while gesturing to your ‘finely’ dressed self. She analyzed your clothes for a moment with experienced eyes. ”That doesn’t look very fitting for the season, don’t you think? They don’t look very warm.” she gave your outfit a last glance before continuing. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to make you some new garments, free of charge of course.” The element of generosity strikes. Clothes made by Rarity herself? The thought alone gave you a tingling feeling. “It would be an honor to wear the work of an artist,” you said with the intent of flattering her, which seemed to work very well, as she looked pleased with the answer. “I should also mention that Celestia said that you could see her after her meeting with the city council. She should still be in there now, so let’s talk more back at my residence, shall we?” she said while motioning you and Twilight to walk with her. She went in a direction that led you ninety degrees away from the white tower. Again you were surprised by the size of the place. On TV, Canterlot had seemed like it consisted of only a compact castle, but in reality it looked more like a medieval city. And there were ponies everywhere. Too many to count. It was a lot to take in, and caring about the ponies giving you stares was getting tiring. You decided to not worry about them. All you thought about were things that mattered. Like how the meeting with Celestia would go. Whether you would learn anything new about how and why you were here, or maybe how to get back. Although right now, returning home wasn’t on a high priority. Spending some time and explore Equestria seemed a lot more attractive than going home. At least during whatever happened next, you would be wearing fancy, Rarity-tailored clothes.
Chapter 1'Why do I like this show?' you had thought to yourself as the opening theme to My Little Pony rolled in, after an hilarious intro where the pink maned pegasus brutally kicked her friend and carefully leapt out of her cottage window. She wasn't going to any dragon migration, no sir. It was the same thing every episode. The feeling that you should not have been enjoying the show as much as you were crept in as you heard the woman starting to sing the My Little Pony theme. The feeling quickly subsided though, once the intro was done. And you slowly forgot that you were watching a show where the target audience was that of young girls. Thinking it didn’t really bother you anymore, you looked down on your "Loyalty" T-shirt. You weren't worried about showing it off in public, though maybe you should have been. You probably subconsciously chose this particular shirt because there were no actual ponies on it. From afar it would look like a shirt with fancy rainbow colors on either sides of the word "Loyalty". However, if you looked closer, and knew what you were looking for, you'd be able to see that the colors on either side outlined a pony, and the multicolored pattern was its mane. 'Discreet,' you thought while smiling, again satisfied with your choice. With the episode’s ending theme kicking in, you looked at the time. "Two forty eight?! Shoot!" A horrid feeling sank into your gut as you remembered that you had to get up in five hours, and you weren't even tired. You shot a glance over at the four empty cans of Redbull sitting besides your computer screen. 'It’s all your fault. God damn it'. Deciding not to punish the cans for their crime, you headed off to bed hoping to get some shut-eye before the alarm would again annoy you with its existence. The alarm went off at eight. Instinctively, like any other morning, you got up and walked over to the clock that sat on the other side of your room. You slapped it on the off-button, then headed back to bed. Rolling over your duvet, you grabbed it and wrapped yourself in a cocoon, nearly drifting back into your comfortable coma. With a sudden jerk, you snapped out of it. 'Get up you lazy bum,’ you thought and rolled back out from your soft hibernation cone. Ten minutes in the shower and no breakfast, just a glass of orange juice rushed down your dry throat, and you were ready to leave. You threw your bag over both your shoulders, then looked at your cellphone. 'Half past eight, you better not be lying to me Mr. Cellphone'. Discovering that you had actually fallen asleep for ten minutes with no perception of it made you feel a bit annoyed. And now you might not even be able to catch your bus. You did though. Staring out the window on the bus ride to university was always a good time. It was probably one of your favorite times of the day except some of the stuff you did at the computer. Watching series, playing games, reading fanfics, all had their merits. But the half hour drive to university and back was something else. You'd fantasize about anything that you was into at the time. And now, you were in Ponyville. Partying with Pinkie, or cheering on Rainbow as she was showing you her newest daring trick. Your world was boring. Your mind would always wander someplace else. You did well at school, but you weren't exactly a good student. You would study for tests and exams a couple of days in advance, and it seemed to always work out somehow as you manage to stay above the class’ average. Projects were barely finished on time, but they were, and that’s what's important, right? That was the predicament you were in right now. You had a project going on with some of your fellow classmates, and they were more proper on those things than you. Completely understanding about their position, you still would have liked them to relax a little. You were on your way to a meeting that morning, about the composition of the final report. Which was due in six weeks. The bus was driving along some corn fields when your thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud burst of noise. 'Thunder?' Puzzled, you looked outside, and for the first time that morning took notice of the weather. Clear skies. The sun was sneaking up from behind the hills to the east, having its light break up to an array of purples and oranges. Looking at the sight in awe, you nearly forgot about the loud bang you heard just seconds ago. You looked around at the other passengers on the bus to see how they were reacting to this. They were all doing the same, looking outside and at each other to find out what it was they just heard. This was a problem you had with the human brain. If something happened that one couldn't explain, the brain tells you what was the most logical explanations, and you just pick one, or several of them, and continue with your day. That was what happened after the bus ride, and it bothered you. You knew that it was probably construction work, or a snapping piece of material somewhere, or a thunder happening under clear skies. You had heard of those, "heat lightning" or whatnot. Even though you knew this was not a supernatural occurrence you just experienced, you wished with all your being that it was. With hands on your pockets you started walking from the bus stop towards the university. It was about a five minute walk, but today it felt a lot shorter. Still deep in thought you turned ninety degrees to your left, you had reached the building that was your destination. You subconsciously decided that today you would be walking around the back of the building to get to the main entrance, which was on the far side. The walk was just as long behind the building as it was walking in front. But the back of the old school was much more tranquil. A nice little path that laid in the middle of a grassy floor separated the school building, two meters off the path to the left, and a thick forest, two meters to the right. Or maybe two and a half, the path wasn't a straight line, and probably on average the path was closer to the school than the forest. Perhaps it reflected that the students who decided to walk here, tended to stay a little closer to the school, since the forest might look threatening. With that in mind, you stepped off the path and walked right up besides the edge of the forest with your hand stretched out, feeling the leaves and branches slide of your hand and arm as you walked. The meeting wasn't before half past ten. You looked at your cell phone who told you that it was nearly quarter past nine. You let out a sigh, knowing that you were going to have to wait for the stupid meeting for over an hour. It's better to be too early than too late, but perhaps taking the next bus would have been a good idea. At least it would have given you time for breakfast. You brushed off the feeling of annoyance and moved towards the room where you were supposed to meet. You could always spend some time thinking, like on the bus rides, staring out the window. You knew the room number, and you knew you read it right the first two times, but still checked a third time to make sure you were in the right place. It would be troublesome to walk in on an on-going lecture. Slowly opening the door and peaking into the room, you discovered that it was empty. You strolled in and over to one of the tables that stood out compared to its neighbors. It was larger and its frame was a metallic red, in contrast with the surrounding black-framed tables. You threw your bag on the floor by the chair you chose fit to be yours for the day. Sitting down you noticed that this room was a bit different than the other classrooms you regularly visited for your lectures. The guitars on either side of the blackboard, and sheet music posters hanging on the walls, indicated that this classroom was likely a music room. You didn't even know there were any music related courses at this university, but paid it no more mind as you looked behind you and saw a big piece of furniture in the back corner of the room. An old and worn looking piano. You smirked as you stood up and walked towards it. The lid on the piano was wide open, exposing all the keys, making it irresistible to touch. You played a simple tune that you could easily play with one hand, and was pretty surprised at how well it the piano sounded compared to how it looked. You would've played another short tune, but in a flash you suddenly felt dizzy. "Wha..." left your mouth as you stumbled back to your seat by the big table, knocking into random chairs on your way. Your head didn’t hurt, not in the slightest. It was just a numbing feeling, making your head feel light. As quickly as the feeling came, it subsided. You put your head in your hands to rethink the experience. 'It was probably just the lack of sleep', you thought. 'Yeh, that’s gotta be it.' After the meeting, you would be going straight home, and go to sleep. You lifted your head up from your hands and looked towards the blackboard. Your eyes widened. An expression of shock was the only reaction you made at what you saw. A dark circular... thing, was hovering not more than a couple of feet in front of you. After a quick look you backed off, rising and taking a step back while still holding the back of your chair. You stared at the dark circle for about a minute, expecting it to disappear, but it didn't. Calming down, you wanted to check this small object out. From looking at it you could clearly see it growing in size, not at a fast pace, but at some pace, that was certain. Slowly moving towards the mystical blackness, your heart started pounding. A very uncomfortable feeling took hold of your chest, and only grew more intense as you got closer. Your hand was in reach now, if you would just get up the courage to lift your arm. You took a deep breath and levitated your hand towards the darkness. There was no feeling of temperature difference, no moving air. Your hand didn’t sense anything as you touched it. Pulling your hand back, you felt more confident now that you hadn’t died from its touch. It was now big enough to fit your whole hand through. The perfect time to experiment. You took your hand and slowly descended it into the black circle, then you bent around to see if it came out the other side. It did. Disappointed, you sat back down on your chair, not taking your eyes of the dark circular entity, still hovering, still growing in front of the blackboard. Minutes passed, the portal shaped blackness was now about three feet in diameter, and it wasn't completely round anymore either. It was growing faster on the top and bottom than it was to the sides. By now you were a hundred percent sure, that either you were dying, hallucinating, or sleeping, or a combination of those. You kept looking at it with a grin. At least your brain gave you a show before you died. You thought back to earlier that morning, about the thunder that came from nowhere. 'This is going to end exactly the same way', you thought as the dizziness returned. You were probably going to wake up in a hospital bed, with some clear liquid dripping into your arm, and all this mysticism would be gone, probably forgotten within a week. The thought angered you. And in a split moment of rage, you picked up your bag and threw it into the darkness of the hole. You sat back down, all the sudden movements had made your already clouded mind disorientated, and for the first time in a while, you looked away. Your head was in your hands again as you tried to keep your head from spinning. Then there was a faint thought streaming through your dizzy mind. You couldn't put your finger on it, but something was clearly bothering you. ‘Did... Did my bag make a sound after hitting the other side of the classroom?’ In a sudden movement, you snapped back up. Your mind kept falling backwards after your head stopped, like your brain was still spinning inside your skull from its gained momentum. You sat still for a moment until your brain gave you the clear that it was stable enough to keep you on your feet, and you moved towards the darkness. The feeling of anxiety grew back. You walked up besides the dark interdimensional hole and looked behind it. No bag. Nothing. Just the blackboard. It had definitely hit the darkness, which could only mean one thing. Well, two things, but ruling out that you were going crazy, only one thing remained. You had classified your find as a portal, and now you were standing right in front of it. You had moved all the tables back so that there was a clearing in front of the portal. Where would it take you? Would you want to go there? Will you be able to return? Tons of questions ran through your fogged mind. You started to feel your head suddenly becoming lighter by the second. Something was changing. The space around you started to bend, and the floor was tilting in random directions. You could’t think straight anymore. Your head was numb, and you could barely keep yourself on your feet. You had one thought, clear enough to hear. And you spoke it out loud. "I am not letting this chance slip by."
Chapter 2It was starting to get dark outside. Twilight Sparkle let out a soft sigh as she looked out a window, then back to the runic circle that was drawn on her living room floor. Taking a deep breath, she mustered up the will to try the spell once more. The first try had been interrupted by the library front door being swung open with great force, breaking Twilight's concentration making the spell become unstable. The result had been the magic snapping back from her glowing horn like a powerful elastic band, making a resonating boom that sounded like thunder, and most likely could be heard even from Applejack's farm. The pink mare that stood in the doorway had looked at Twilight with a puzzled expression as Pinkie Pie was given an annoyed stare. This happened almost two hours ago. Pinkie had helped to clean up the mess of books that had been shook off their shelves to litter the library floor. Then she had left, after inviting Twilight to her "One month with her colt-friend" party. That is probably not a very appropriate occasion to invite the whole town to celebrate with, but Twilight also knew that the reasoning behind most of Pinkie Pie's parties were of little importance. It was just an excuse to host another one of her great parties. But Twilight had a lot on in her mind at the moment about that very subject, and being the only one of her best friends that was still single, she knew she would probably feel out of place if she went. Twilight stepped up to the runic circle. It was about three feet in diameter. One meter and nine centimetres to be exact. She had taken a lot of time getting the drawing just right, using an old brown book as reference. The circle was drawn in black, with seven lines inside it, forming a septagon. Inside the geometric shape was three symbols next to each other. An arrow pointing up, one looking like a "V" rotated ninety degrees clockwise, and the last looking like a sharp "R". Twilight hadn't looked into what the symbols meant, which was unusual for her. But she didn't have much faith that the spell was going to work anyway. It was something she came across while she was feeling a little lonely. 'A spell to bring one meant for me before me' she thought again, reciting the text from the spellbook she was using. Her horn gave a faint glow, and the seven candles surrounding the rune lit. She looked at the whole set-up one last time, to make sure nothing was out of place, or smudged. Everything seemed fine... ‘Except...’ She snapped her head towards the door with a childish frown on her face. The door knob started to glow as a sound of it being locked was heard. Collecting herself, she looked down at the circle, closing her eyes and began to channel her magic into it. It seemed to demand quite a bit from her. The book was never specific about the difficulty of the spell, but she didn't think it would be even a third of what it felt like right now. Though the massive sound it made when it failed indicated that this might indeed take some effort to complete. It still wasn't enough. Twilight's horn increased its brightness as she focused as much magic as she could into the hungry rune. The channeling had been going on for at least five minutes. She surprised herself with her determination of making this work. A feeling came over her that this was her limit. She could only hold this magic going for a few more seconds. Opening her eyes for the first time since she had started channeling she could see a black object floating in front of her. The second she caught sight of it, she felt the spell's demand on magic lessening. Twilight instantly knew what this meant. She had done it. The spell was saturated with magic, and the rest would happen on its own. One of the great things with rune spells, all that is needed from the caster is a dash of magic. She trotted over to the round table to sit down and take notes as she observed the spell being performed by the rune. The black object, most likely a summoning portal, grew in size. After about two minutes it was a size that could fit a pony inside. Curious if this was the time "one meant for her" would appear, she squinted her eyes, trying to make out any irregularities forming inside the darkness. Something caught her eye, a different tone of black started to form, and grew rapidly. Baffled by what she saw, she leaned in for a closer look. Out of the black circle came a satchel at high velocity towards Twilight's head. In surprise she let out a cry and covered her head with her hooves. The satchel hit her and sent the pony and the item tumbling a couple of feet backwards. Shaking her head she got back on her hooves, rubbing the part of her head that had just been struck. It hurt. It felt like the thing was filled with rocks. She glanced her eyes over to her assailant lying on the ground next to her. She wanted to kick it away for having caused her pain, but quickly noticed there was something significant about the satchel. It was of a design she had never seen before, and it didn't look very convenient to carry either. "What the hay?" Twilight levitated the strange bag up in front of her. "What does this mean?". This whole situation had Twilight puzzled. Why did a weird bag come through her portal? Was it the spell that had gone wrong? She looked at the portal which still hovered over the rune on the floor, looking as active as ever. Wondering how long the portal was going to maintain open, she noticed that it was still growing in size. She became nervous. How big was the portal going to become? How would she stop its growth if it didn't halt on its own? For the moment there was a more important precaution she should be taking immediately. She collected herself, and the strange bag, and moved to the side of the portal, safely behind her table. If more projectiles were going to come through, she did not want to be in line of fire. One shot to the head was more than enough. Her attention quickly focused on the bag, and wondered about its contents. Looking around the bag, it did not have a clear way of opening. Though there was something peculiar about the line of metal that went from one side of the bag to the other. They looked like small teeth, intertwined in each other to seal it shut. Of course, nopony had ever seen a zipper mechanism before, but Twilight figured it out quickly. There was a tiny slit already open on one of the sides, and she pried it open with her magic, noticing something metallic moving upwards, releasing the teeth as it went. She got the bag open and looked inside it. "Books? The one meant for me is... books? No wonder it felt like being hit by a rock." Pulling out one of the books inside the bag, she read on its cover. "Thermodynamics...", she had never heard the names of the authors before, and the names looked strange to her. She didn't have much time to ponder on this, as the portal started to resonate a quiet sound, and looking like it was either being shut down, or becoming unstable, or... Before she could think of more explanations, a creature covered in blackness walked straight out of the portal and into her living room, stopping a few feet away from her. Her heart sunk, and for a moment she stared terrified at the creature. She broke out of her trance and realized she definitely didn't want to stand in the open like this, not before she knew what this thing was. She galloped up the stairs in panic and hid behind her bedroom door, leaving it open by a crack so she could observe the creature. It didn't look like it had noticed her at all... ~~~ Everything went black when you entered the portal. You felt a sensation you had never felt before. If you had to describe it to someone, you would say that it felt like your whole body was falling asleep, while being submerged in jelly. 'That's a good description as any.' Your head quickly cleared, and you felt your feet treading onto a new surface. Inside the portal it had felt like walking on clouds. Now a new solid surface was under your feet, and it felt good. The ride had been intense. Not knowing what was happening had scared you. But the new reassuring floor told you that your life was probably out of danger. Probably. Your sight was starting to come back. You hadn’t noticed but your hearing had also been gone while traveling, you noticed as you could start hearing the faint humming sound made by the portal. 'Where am I?' You looked around as your sight fully recovered. You were in a library. The architecture wasn't something you had seen before. It looked like it came straight out of a movie. You couldn't put your finger on it, but this place felt very familiar. Turning around you barely got a glance of the portal disappearing. And under where it had been you noticed a drawn runic circle. Looking at the table next to the circle, you spotted your bag. It was opened, and beside it lied a scrap book and...'a quill?' The ink was still wet. The thought that the person who made the circle must still be around came to mind. "Hello?" you muttered. Not sure if you wanted to meet the wizard responsible for your summoning. "Someone here?" No one answered. Somewhat relieved, you let your shoulders sink. You started to analyze your surroundings. The doors were a bit smaller than what you were used to, but the library was roomy, with at least fifteen feet from floor to ceiling. The staircase going to the second floor was open to the main room, and the main part of the second floor was also visible from where you stood, but you didn't quite see what was up there, as the walls were a bit too high for that. As your gaze roamed the second floor your eyes caught movement behind a door. Obviously something was hiding from you. And by looking at the size of the doors around you, the thing was probably smaller than you. The thought didn't completely let go of the nervous feeling of what was hiding in that room, but it was comforting in some way. You couldn't come up with anything clever to say. This situation was really strange to begin with, definitely not normal. 'If it's hiding, it's probably afraid.' "Erm... If you think I'm dangerous, then don’t worry, I won't harm you." You tried to sound as friendly as possible. Though you’re not sure how well you did, since there was no response from the door. After a little while someone answered. "You really won't do me harm?" You weren’t expecting a feminine voice to come from the door, but now that you had heard it you felt relieved. Thinking you really weren't in any danger. "No, I'd never harm anyone." The door slowly opened, and a creature on four legs stepped out. Your eyes opened wide once again. All the pieces fell into place. The library architecture, quills, and Twilight Sparkle! It was Twilight standing on the second floor, looking straight down at you... with a skeptical look on her face. You quickly realized that might be a normal response. You had seen her kind before, but she might have never seen yours. You try to contain your erupting emotions, and close your mouth. This might not even be the same world, just a look-a-like. You decided to play with the cards close at your chest. "How did I end up here?" You asked, hoping it would start a conversation. The awkward silence was starting to make you uncomfortable, and besides, you really would like to know why you were here. This seemed all too perfect to be real. "I'm not quite sure I understand it myself. The spell was a summoning spell, but I never expected it to bring me something interdimensional." Twilight explained, never taking her eyes off you. Like you were something that was not to be trusted. Which you could understand. "Soooo... What were you expecting?" Twilight straightened up in snapping motion, like she was startled by the question, then she looked to her left. "N-nothing in particular." Her face turning a slight shade of red. "And sorry for asking this so straight forward, but what are you?" "I'm a human." Having to tell someone you are human because they don't know was a strange feeling. You play dumb and ask her some questions. You figured you had the authority to, since she was the one who did the summoning. "And what might you be? And what’s your name?" "Me? I'm a unicorn pony, and my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle." She confirmed all your suspicions. But you still decide act as if on clean slates, after all, you don't really know Twilight. You've been observing her through the show on television. Which would seem kind of creepy in this scenario. Twilight continued, "Hold on a minute... I've heard of your kind somewhere!" She put a hoof on her forehead, trying to remember. "Ah, there were some ancient historical texts mentioning a human in the canterlot archives." She said while walking down the stairs. Still cautious, but at least not afraid anymore. "You don't seem like a bad guy. I'm sorry I brought you here. It's all my fault. I was just trying out a new spell, I didn't even think it would work." She looked at you with an apologetic face. You put on a friendly smile. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure everything will work out." Twilight was in deep thought for a second. "It will! I'll make sure you get back to your home world in one piece." Twilight said with determination. It wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear. You wouldn't mind staying here for at least a while. But you thought saying that right now would be sort of inappropriate. You only smiled at Twilight, and asked her where you had been summoned to.
Chapter 3Twilight was stomped. The book she had used to prepare the spell that summoned you didn't seem to hold any answers of how to send you back. And another thing bothered her equally as much. How did this simple spell go so wrong as to bring something from another dimension? While she was searching through every volume in her library to find a way to correct her wrong-doings, you sat by the round table in the center of the room and tried to keep up conversations with her. It wasn't a problem once they got going. Every time you mentioned something science related, Twilight's ears would perk up, as you would expect knowing she was a bookworm hungry for knowledge. Her attention would be fixed at you for a moment, before she seemingly snapped out of the trance and continued her search. It was like she wanted to have discussions with you, but guilt was winning all the internal battles. This had gone on for hours. Looking outside, you saw the bright moon high in the black sky. There was obviously a time difference here, since your cell phone told you the time was three in the PM. Was a day even twenty four hours in Equestria? "Hey, Twilight." "Hmm? What is it?" Twilight responded, looking up from the three books she had levitating in front of her. You couldn't get quite used to seeing things fly around on their own without anything supporting them. Though the purple glow emitted by the items that were floating indicated that there was some physical - or rather, magical - law in this world that would probably be common knowledge if you had lived here. After a moment of being distracted by the floating books, you remembered that you were going to say something. "It’s the middle of the night, right? Aren’t you tired? We should get some sleep, then continue tomorrow fully rested." She really did look tired, but the thought of stopping her from quickly finding a way to return you to Earth also played a role in your request. "I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I brought you all this trouble." She frowned. "I was really hoping there was an easy way to fix this. But it looks like we're not that lucky." You felt kind of relieved, but the fact that it was making Twilight miserable made you feel bad about it. "Don't worry about me Twilight. You shouldn't tire yourself out. Your overall efficiency would probably go up if you rested for a while anyway." "You're probably right... I'm not getting anywhere like this. I would have sent a letter to the princess and asked for her input on the matter, but my dragon is out of town, and sending a letter by mail would take a long time." "Dragon?" You asked, knowing it was probably Spike she was referring to, but you didn't want to let her know you knew that. "Yes. He is my number one assistant, and a good friend of mine," She said, smiling again. "U-huh. And you're also friends with a princess?" You raise an eyebrow, but only because you think it would have been your normal reaction if anyone said they knew a princess. "I am princess Celestia's protégé." She said proudly, lifting a hoof to her chest. "I usually consult her if I'm stomped on something. Maybe she could at least shine some light on what has happened, or give me special permission to go into the Canterlot archives and search for any clues there." Her confident voice quickly faded as she was openly admitting she was out of her league on this one. "I still say we should call it a night, and get some sleep." "Yea I guess." Twilight sighed. "But... I don't have a guest bed for you." "No matter, I could fall asleep just about anywhere." It sounded like you just didn't want to be a bother, but it was true. "Just give me a pillow and I'll sleep on the floor down here." You smiled at Twilight, trying to make sure she knew you wouldn't mind. Twilight looked at you with a frown of guilt you've grown quite familiar with tonight. "Alright. Just wait a minute and I will bring you some things." Twilight went up the stairs and into the room she had been hiding in when you first arrived, it was presumably her bedroom. A few moments passed and she came trotting back out with a hovering pillow above her head and a blanket on her back. She walked up next to you, handing you the pillow with her magic and picking up the blanket from her back with her mouth. 'Looks kind of peculiar in real life,' you thought while grabbing the blanket. You walked up to the library wall opposite of the stairs and got ready to sleep, letting out with a low, but exciting voice. "I've never tried to deal with jet lag before." Twilight looked puzzled. "What's jetlag?" With a smirk on your face you got cozy under the blanket. It wasn't big enough to cover you from neck to toe. You had to curl up a bit to get your feet tucked in underneath. "Nothing Twilight." Your smirk widening. "Go get some rest, and we'll see each other in the morning," you said whilst looking up at Twilight, who was looking back at you. She closed her eyes and smiled. "You're good company." Twilight said, opening her eyes again with a thoughtful look. "There's not much we can do before Spike gets home the day after tomorrow. And with you kind of being my guest, we shouldn't be keeping you cooped up in here until we get this sorted out. What do you say I show you around Ponyville tomorrow?" Her smile reappeared as she told you her suggestion. "Wouldn't seeing me scare peop- ... somepony?" "Maybe at first, but if we're not able to get you home very soon it would be a shame to have you closed up in the library your whole stay." Things couldn't have turned out any better. You're going to meet the whole gang! The thought gave you butterflies of excitement, but being in full control of your emotions you only put on a warm smile. "That would be great. I can't wait to see your world." "That's the spirit" Twilight said smiling back at you. She walked off up the stairs, turning back towards you a last time outside her bedroom door. "Goodnight." She said, and proceeded to walk into her room. "Goodnight." You were more tired than you had first anticipated. Perhaps the rough trip had tired you out somehow, and you were just too distracted up until now by everything to notice. Your pillow and blanket smelled good, like a field of flowers on a sunny day. It also reminded you of the scent that roamed around Twilight. It didn't take long before you were fast asleep. The sound of Twilight walking down the stairs woke you the following morning. You got up in a sitting position with your back against the wall, still not quite awake. Twilight was looking at you with sleepy eyes from the bottom of the staircase, with a bed head for the books. You chuckled lightly at the sight of the messy pony. She looked up at her mane and put a grin on her face. "Ha-ha. You look like you've slept quite well yourself there." She returned the chuckle at you and your messy hair. "Did you sleep well? The floor really doesn't look very comfortable." "My neck seems to have taken a hit, but I slept fine." Stretching your neck, you could see Twilight's face turn a slight shade of red, like last night when you asked what she was supposed to summon. "We'll have to figure something out for tonight. We can’t have you sleeping on the floor every night while you're here." Twilight planning ahead like this probably indicated she didn't have much against you staying here at least. Which was a relief in itself. Not only that though, she looked rather happy while saying it. This spiked your curiosity once more. "Twilight, just what were you trying to summon last night?" Again, startled by the question, her face gained a deeper shade of red as she stood silent for a moment. She looked down at the floor with an embarrassed look on her face. "The spell was supposed to bring forth somepony meant for me." She said reluctantly with a low voice. "I don't know why the spell summoned you, but then again, I don't really know how love works either." By now you were just staring at the purple unicorn. Gears in your head turning. She did a spell to find a boyfriend? Or rather, colt-friend. And the spell chose me? Why didn't the spell bring her a pony? "Anyway.." Twilight continued before you had processed all this, obviously trying to change the subject. "Has it been long since you last ate? You're probably hungry, right?" Snapping out of your daze you barely got what she was saying. "Hm? Oh yeah. It’s been awhile since I ate, I guess." Just being here in this fantasy world had made even your basic instincts retreat while you were digesting just how awesome these circumstances were. Now reminded of those cravings again, you felt that you're starving. You haven’t had anything since that glass of juice yesterday morning after all. "Well would you like some breakfast? I got fresh hay and daisies in the fridge." 'One abnormal situation after another.' You were hungry, but not that hungry. You try to explain to Twilight that humans didn't like the taste of hay, and that you wouldn't get much nutrition even if you did eat it. Twilight looked a little concerned. "So what do humans eat?" Your mind was racing for a second. You couldn't say meats, and dairy products were probably not a good idea either. Thinking back on what the characters eat on the TV show, you find the answers. Trying not to make it too specific you answer her question. "Fruit and pastries." You say victoriously. "Oh. That shouldn't be a problem acquiring. My friend Applejack owns an apple farm, and Pinkie Pie works at a bakery." "You think your friends would react any differently than what you did when you first saw me?" Twilight didn't look worried. "It's fine. I'll just explain to them why you're here. I'm sure they will understand. I bet they will come around liking you in no-time." Butterflies were emerging in your stomach again, now a mix of excitement and plain being nervous. Twilight walked towards the door. "Let’s get going then shall we?" "Wait, you're not gonna, you know, fix your mane first?" Twilight froze in mid walk, looking up at her mane again. "That's probably a good idea." You both share a laugh. You had borrowed Twilight's bathroom after she was done there. The roof was much lower than that of the library, but it was just high enough for you not needing to crouch. By the back wall there was a bathtub with a shower head above it. You didn’t use any of Twilight's soaps, but the warm water alone would probably suffice for a day. You dried yourself with a towel Twilight said you could use. Putting your clothes back on, a thought struck you as amusing. 'Good thing I didn't wear my "Loyalty" T-shirt yesterday. Now that would've been awkward.' Walking back into the library you saw Twilight waiting at the front door. She had a blue and purple satchel over her back, giving her pockets on either sides. "Do humans always fully dress themselves?" Twilight asked. You ponder a second about how to answer. "We don’t have fur all over like you guys do, so we use clothes to keep warm." "Ah, that makes sense." Twilight said, like she just learned valuable piece of information. "We can head directly to Applejack's farm. Maybe we should keep your exposure to Pinkie Pie to a minimum for now. Also I don’t think cupcakes counts as a breakfast." "I'm sure she's not that bad. But I can agree on that second reason. Let's head to the farm then." The walk to the farm was longer than you had expected. Everything looked like it was close together on television, but now the two of you had walked a country road for about fifteen minutes, and only now could you see the red barn in the distance. It was a beautiful sunny day. You tried to the best of your ability to juggle enjoying the scenery and talking with Twilight as you walked, though the latter was far more interesting. Twilight wanted to know all about you, and humans in general. And you wanted to know all about her, and enjoyed listening to her telling you about her friends, about her life, and the communities in Equestria consisting of a mix of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies. Even though you knew a lot about what she was telling you, listening to them being told as facts was a feeling that differed from that of knowing a TV show. It really felt like being on clean slates after all, which made you even happier about all this. You halted in the middle of the gravel path. Twilight did the same after noticing you had slowed to a stop, and looked puzzled back at you. "Do you hear that?" You asked. You could hear what sounded like a jet engine in the distance, slowly increasing in volume. It was barely noticeable though. "I don’t think I hear anything. What does it sound like?" "I can't really explain it. Sounds like-" "WATCH OUT!" was the last thing you heard before being knocked off your feet. Something had crashed into your side. Knocking the air out of your lungs and made you soar several feet before hitting the ground. Gasping for your lost air, you rolled over on your back, and heard something getting up besides you. "Excuse me, I didn’t mean to hit you. The tunnel vision becomes really bad when I go at full speed. I didn't even see you until just before-WOW!" The pegasus let out a surprised cry as she looked over and saw what it was she had crashed into. "Just what are you?!" She said as she took off the ground and hovered at a safe distance from you. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight caught the blue pegasus' attention. "Huh, Twilight? What are you doing here? And what’s up with that thing?" Rainbow Dash points a hoof in your general direction while looking at Twilight. "He is with me, and he's a human. He isn't from Equestria. A spell went wrong yesterday and brought him here." Twilight explained, trying to get across that you weren't not a threat. "Oh." Rainbow Dash descended. With her hooves on the ground she looked at you more closely as you slowly stumbled back on your feet. You were still disorientated from the crash, and your side smarted in rhythm with your heartbeat. "He's kinda... funny lookin'." Rainbow stated. "Well humans are not even from our dimension, it may be expected for them to look a bit different." Twilight explains. "Another dimension, huh." You finally catch your breath fully and look up at the cyan coated pegasus standing besides Twilight. 'Rainbow Dash! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!' You try to contain your ever pressing excitement. "Ye, hi there." You put on the same warm smile you showed Twilight, as it was becoming your standard poker face in these situations. The pain was suddenly not a problem you cared about anymore. "We're going to Sweet Apple Acres to buy some apple products, as his kind doesn't eat hay." Twilight couldn't get out another word before Rainbow's ears perked up, and her eyes opened wide. "That reminds me! I gotta go. Guess I'll see you at the farm. I'll give Applejack the heads up that you're on your way." With that, the rainbow maned pegasus shot like a bullet in the direction she was originally heading. "What was that about?" Scratching your head, you look at Twilight for an explanation. "I am just as blank as you are. Though it isn't unusual for her to be in a rush." Twilight said as she started heading towards the red barn. "She did say she was on her way to the same place we are. We'll find out what this is about when we get there I reckon." "How much further is it?" "We're over halfway now, so not much further." Hoping you didn't blow it with Rainbow Dash, a feeling of anxiety built up in your chest. You would really have liked to be on everypony's good side, and not be left out because you were so different. But you thought that might be inevitable. The road to Sweet Apple Acres was spent talking to Twilight about anything that came to mind. Though in the back of your head brewed what Twilight said back at the library, about the spell to summon her a mate. If she was a human girl, her personality alone would probably be more than enough to win your heart. But she was a pony... Would a relationship with her even be possible?
Chapter 4The barn wasn't far off now. Wishing the trip would last a while longer you look over at Twilight. You hadn't really taken much notice of it before, but her coat looked really soft, and her mane waved effortlessly as the wind blew by. 'Those are some good conditioning products they got here.' went through your mind, as you recalled all the different soaps and creams that were covering the shelves in Twilight's bathroom. You were rudely interrupted from admiring the pony by something hard knocking against your skull. A sign was hanging above the entrance to the farm at head height, giving you a rather uncomfortable welcome. "Ah!" You let out a startled shout of pain and quickly raised a hand to your forehead, mending the aching area with intense rubbing. Twilight chuckled lightly at your slight comic display. "Are you alright back there?" You turned and looked back at the sign that you for a brief instant hated with all your soul. It was a wooden sign with a carved hole in it shaped like an apple. As you quickly recognize it, all its sins were forgiven as you looked around you, scanning the farm for any signs of recognizable ponies. Nothing but corn and carrots to the left. Nopony to the right either. "They are probably by the apple trees. If Rainbow is here she's probably hoof wrestling with Applejack behind the barn." Twilight said pointing a hoof towards the left of the red building. The butterflies were multiplying in your gut for every step you took as they each helped to reveal more of what lay behind the barn. There they were. Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They were standing by the edge of the orchard facing towards each other. Rainbow Dash, who was the one facing the direction you were coming from, looked up over Applejack and gave the two approaching visitors an acknowledged nod. Applejack turned her head to see you and Twilight walking towards them. Not wanting to give off a bad impression you calmly walked behind Twilight. She looked back at you and gave you a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, you don't give off any bad vibes. Rainbow Dash was just caught off guard." She must have known you were nervous. The first reaction of the pegasus wasn't exactly the most confidence inspiring ever. "Is it that easy to see?" You said smiling back at Twilight. "Just relax, I am sure they will come to like you as much as I do." "Hi there, Twilight." Applejack walked towards the two of you to meet you halfway, not looking any kind of worried. She wore her cowboy hat tilted back slightly, not hiding any of her face. A small ounce of panic loomed in your brain as you followed Twilight's pace, and she was showing no signs of slowing down. At this rate you would meet the cowboy-hatted pony in just a few more seconds, with no time to prepare yourself. "And hi there to you partner. Ah'm Applejack, and welcome to our farm here in Ponyville." Before you knew it Applejack was standing right in front of you. She was looking at you with the friendliest smile you had ever seen, reaching out a hoof for a handshake. "A pleasure meeting you, Applejack." You responded, instinctively taking her hoof in your hand and giving it a gentle shake. Warm smile mode, engaged. "Nice to meet yah. Rainbow here told me you were on your way, also heard you gave her quite a scare." She said, obviously taunting her cyan friend. "Hey, I wasn't scared! I was surprised." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, having followed a bit behind Applejack. "Ye ye, riot down sugarcube." Waving a hoof at the pegasus, emoting her to not to chase it any further. "So, you obviously look like you're not from around these parts. How did yah wind up here in Equestria?" Twilight told Rainbow and Applejack about her spell and how she ended up finding you in her living room, discreetly leaving out what kind of spell it was. She also told them the reason for you going to Sweet Apple Acres this morning. Rainbow Dash is the first to cut in after Twilight's explanation. "I'm sorry for crashing into you earlier," she said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, not making much eye contact. You relaxed your shoulders in relief as you look at Rainbow Dash hovering in front of you. "No worries Rainbow, no one was hurt right?" You smiled at the pegasus, who lightened up by your response. "Cool, so we're cool?" She extended out one of her front legs in half a punching motion, leaving it half way outstretched towards you. This was no potential hoofshake, you knew exactly what to do. "Of course. We're cool." Hoof met fist in an explosion of fireworks and confetti. This day was getting better by every passing second. Your mind was still trying to comprehend the awesomeness of the situation when Applejack stepped back and started walking towards a house located to the left of the barn, giving a short glance back at you. "So y'all hungry? I got some freshly baked bread and apple spread inside the house, probably the best breakfast in all Equestria." There weren't any complaints from your growling belly, so you and the ponies swiftly followed Applejack to her house. Breakfast was delicious, and an amazing time. The ponies didn't seem to mind that you looked different at all. Applebloom and Big Macintosh didn't seem to mind either, as the little filly was sitting besides you asking about how it was to constantly walk around on two legs. From there she got the great idea to gather the Cutie Mark Crusaders to submit her new idea for circus cutie marks. 'Did she just imply that I look like a circus freak when I walk?' Big Mac didn't say much. He greeted you when you entered the kitchen, but that was about all you heard from him, though he seemed into everything that was being said at the breakfast table. "Hey, you should totally show up to Pinkie Pie's party tomorrow." Rainbow Dash exclaimed after forcing down a huge bite of her apple spread sandwich. "I had forgotten all about that. Now that you mention it, would be a great way to meet everypony." Twilight said before continuing with a concerned look, "Though I don't know how tomorrow's schedule will look as Spike is coming home, and we should really get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible." "Lighten up Twi, you could always delay it for one measly evenin'." Applejack protested with a mouthful of apple. The ponies really did a good job to make you feel welcome. "It's decided then!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she pointed a hoof towards you from across the table. You ate until you couldn't take another bite as everypony looked in awe at how much you could stuff down. The easily impressed ponies and the deliciousness of the food and apple juice felt like it would be the end of you, as the content in your stomach were threatening to burst its container. Applejack was cleaning off the table with the help of her eager little sister after everyone had their fill. "Well Ah'm sorry to be cutting this gatherin' short, but we have a lot to do on the farm with the harvest just around the corner an' all." Applejack explained. "We also have plans today, so we should get going if we're to see as much as possible before it gets dark. The sun is already high in the sky." Twilight looked over at you as you gave her an agreeing nod. After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked you and Twilight to the farm gate. You gracefully duck under the apple sign and turn around to the two ponies behind you. "Guess I'll see everypony tomorrow then." You've finally gotten to a point where you can talk normally to them. The thought about knowing them from a TV show was fading rather rapidly. "Darned toot'n." Applejack said, then looks over at Twilight. "You make sure our guest enjoys his stay in Ponyville now." "I'll do my best to be a good host." Twilight responds smiling, then turns her head to Rainbow Dash. "Tell Fluttershy I said hi. I haven't had the opportunity to visit lately." Rainbow Dash took her eyes off you and looked at her purple friend. "I will Twilight, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from ya." Rainbow Dash replies while giving Twilight a soft smile. You all bid your goodbyes and part ways for now. Applejack had given you a bunch of her finest apples in a sack, free of charge. Twilight had suggested that she could carry them in her satchel but you insisted as the gentleman you are to carry them yourself. You fumbled to get a new firm grip on the sack of apples and walked swiftly to catch up with Twilight. "See, I told you they would like you. There was no need to be worried." You look back and see Applejack and Rainbow Dash still by the gate looking out towards you and Twilight. You wave your free arm at them in a long, slow motion above your head. They waved back, Applejack doing the same waving motion as you, and Rainbow shooting up ten feet in the air and waving both her front hooves. Your heart jumps with joy at the sight. "I guess." Your smile reaching from ear to ear, still walking backwards while enjoying the moment. "What do you want to see next?" You turn back around and look down to your side to meet Twilight's big eyes. "Well, what's there to see?" There were of course things you knew you wanted to see, but you wanted Twilight to lead the wagon. "There aren't really many spectacular landmarks in Ponyville, but there are some pretty sights. We could walk through town and drop the apples off at the library, there’s no need to be carrying them around all day." There was a lot apples in the sack, and there weren't any gripping handles on it, making it a little uncomfortable to hold for a long time. You could already feel the inside of your hand getting a little sore. "That sounds like a plan." You switch the sack into your other hand. You quickly estimated the walk back to Ponyville to last between twenty five and thirty minutes. Thirty minutes with just you and Twilight. She seemed distracted, and neither of you said anything the next couple of minutes, with you just enjoying the scenery once more. There were round hills as far as you could see in one direction, most of them covered in trees, and the horizon behind Ponyville was obstructed by a mountain range. As you look at the mountains you see something in the corner of your vision. A big grey cloud. It was seemingly heading towards the farm you just left. Following the cloud with your eyes, it didn't look like it was being carried by wind. After it had passed, you saw a blue dot behind it, realizing the blue pegasus was probably had gone to the farm today on weather business. You break the silence by asking Twilight about her other friends, from there the conversation jumps from one topic to another. Before you knew it you were asking her about magic. When she explained it as a force in this world that could be manipulated in different ways by specific minerals, you related it to magnets. The unicorn horns were made of a bunch of these minerals connected to short nerves that lead directly to the unicorn's brain. So basically they had a horn made of different types of electro magnets. The discussion went on to comparisons between the two worlds, and time was forgotten as topics flew by. You were nearly in town when you saw two ponies walking in the opposite direction. Twilight had noticed them too. An earth pony and a unicorn. The unicorn had a turquoise coat with a light blue mane, the earth pony was cream coloured with a blue and pink mane. You decided you were going to act like nothing abnormal was going on, and as you passed them you gave a simple stranger-to-stranger greeting while waving your free hand in a short, fast motion. Since you were walking alongside Twilight you figured they wouldn't become scared of you if you acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary. "Good day." They looked at you in confusion. "H-hello..." They replied in union. You could feel their stare in your neck long after you passed them. "Genius." Twilight giggled at the sight the surprised faces of the two ponies, who were still standing at in the spot where you passed them a minute ago. Pleased with your accomplishment you smiled and looked down at the unicorn walking besides you. "So which way now to your library? We didn't walk this way out of town if I remember correctly." "You're right. This way will take us past the plaza before we reach the library. Would you rather walk back the way we took this morning?" You had taken a route out of Ponyville that morning that seemed to avoid where there might be ponies around at the time. It was probably a little longer than walking straight through town, and you did want to see if you could recognize anything there. Though the thought of having all eyes on you while walking through a crowd of ponies made you a little nervous. "It's alright I guess. As long as there won't be an uproar when everyon... everypony sees me." "As long as you're with me I think the worst we'll get is ponies staring in awe like Lyra and Bon-Bon back there." "Oh, so you knew those ponies?" "I know who they are, but I don't really know them personally. It's a small town, everypony knows everypony around here." "I guess that makes sense." That's how you imagined things were in small towns back home as well. Walking through town wasn't really all that bad. Some curious eyes had followed you as you went, but no one seemed particularly frightened. Maybe strange creatures weren't as rare as you had first thought. In a world with dragons, a mammal that wasn't even twice the height of a pony wouldn't be a huge cause for alarm. The first thing you had recognized was the town hall, then your head had snapped towards a pink building with a huge cupcake on top of it. The road had taken you right past Sugarcube Corner. You had tried to peek through the windows to check for any party ponies that might be inside, but to your disappointment you hadn't seen anypony at all. After you had passed the bakery however, something didn't feel right. You could swear that you had passed the pony reading the newspaper with a brown scarf on her head at least two times before. Maybe it was just your imagination, because as soon as you thought you had noticed, you never saw the newspaper pony again. But there was still something making the air seem uneasy. Having reached the library Twilight insisted on taking the apples to the kitchen for you. You let her grip the sack of apples with her magic and she trotted away, and as you could heard the sound of her struggling to stuff the apples inside the fridge, you sat down on the floor by the center table to rest your feet. The air in the library had a slight chill to it compared to the warm summer weather outside, and it felt good as the sweat on your forehead evaporated and didn't re-emerge. Twilight, having finally finished her struggle with the limited space of her fridge, sat down besides you. "So what do you say we head to Fluttershy's cottage next?" She suggests as she levitateed a glass of clear liquid to the table in front of you. "She's the kindest pony I know, and it's a very beautiful scene, her cottage alone, but also the nature around it." The clear liquid in the glass wasn't just water. It was sweet, and a taste you had never experienced from any kind of food or drink before, but you still recognized it. It tasted what flowers smelled like. It was delicious, like they had isolated the smell of a flower then added water and sugar. "Sounds good." Tossing down the rest of the drink in one gulp, you stand up. "Thanks for the delicious drink." “Glad you liked it.” Twilight returned your smile and stood back up, and you head out the door. Walking through some parts of town towards Fluttershy's cottage, you could hear rustling coming from bushes, and suspicious looking ponies could be seen every now and again. You were now very certain, somepony was following you.
Chapter 5This time around, walking through Ponyville was an uncomfortable experience. Something was following you, but you could never catch a glimpse of who or what it was. Twilight hadn't noticed your paranoia at all it seemed, as she was walking a few feet in front of you the whole time, absorbed in her own thoughts. On the outskirts of town you could still hear rustling from a tree. The thought that it was some shy, curious pony trying to figure out what you were struck you as the most likely possibility, but this was making you uneasy. You wanted to find out who this pony was. You stopped in the middle of the road. Twilight didn't hear gravel settling under your feet anymore and turned around. "What's the matter?" Twilight looked a bit worried. "Nothing, it's just... I think something is following us." Twilight looks around, trying to spot anything moving. Nothing. "I don't see anypony. Maybe it’s just your imagination?" You look around, then fix your eyes on the tree you had last heard a noise from. "I know you're there. What do you want?" The right side of your vision was suddenly blocked by something bright coloured. In surprise you quickly stepped back to see what it was. Pinkie Pie. She had a serious look on her face and a magnifying glass in front of her, glaring at you with a huge eye. Your heart's first reaction was to leap with joy at seeing her, Pinkie Pie was here! '...but what's with the serious look on her face?' Pinkie disappeared from sight. Now behind you, you could feel her studying the back of your head, grazing through your hair with her hoof. Turning around you didn't see the pink mare, as she was now on the ground, studying your shoes. You only stare at Pinkie in confusion as she got up, seemingly done with examining you. "Erm... Pinkie Pie? Is everything alright?" Twilight looked at her with a confused look. The pink mare's expression quickly changed from gloomy serious to joyful, as she started to bounce around you and Twilight. "Nothing's the matter, silly! I was just very curious to find out how he knows me." A lump forms in your throat. 'What did she just say??' "What do you mean? It's probably because I've been telling him about you." "Noooooo, that's not it. He must have known from before that." She stopped bouncing and put a hoof to her chin as one could hear the wheels in her brain turning. "Maybe it's cause he is really good at guessing games! He had already guessed he was going to meet us and figured out who we were even if he hadn't met us yet, even where I lived! You're good, mister!" "What are you talking about Pinkie? He just arrived here yesterd-" Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie suddenly being up in her face, with a huge eye staring at her from behind the magnifying glass. "Exactly!" Pinkie exclaims in a loud dramatic voice. Twilight looked at her friend, not able to assert what Pinkie was trying to say. You, on the other hand, knew exactly what it was she knew. How could she know? Pinkie turned her attention to you. Her smile widening. "It doesn't really matter how anyway. What's important is that we get to know you! We can't have friends who know their friends but their friends not knowing you, that could lead to awkward situations and awkward situations could lead to sadness which leads to loneliness and lonely ponies eat their cupcakes alone and no one should have to eat their cupcakes alone." It was impressive to look at the pony not biting her tongue while ranting on. At least it seemed like you were out of danger for the moment. With Pinkie's talking going silent for a couple of seconds, Twilight took her chance to get in a word. "Aaaanyways, this is Pinkie Pie." "Nice to finally meet you, Pinkie." With the worry of being found out nearly gone, the feeling of excitement took over once again. Pinkie stood in front of you smiling. She looked just like you had imagined, her mane and tail looked fluffy like cotton candy, and you could sense a sweet smell in the air since she showed herself. Just by being in her presence you could feel an aura around her that made you brighten up, making it impossible not to smile. "Hi, nice to meet you too! I'm having a party tomorrow and you should totally come. We'll play games, listen to music, dance to music, eat edible decorating paper. It'll be a blast!" You chuckle at her fast and random rambling. This was one interesting pony alright. "So I heard, I'd love to come to your party." Pinkie's smile widened even more from hearing you accepting her invitation, and before you could grasp any movement, she had embraced you in a hug. 'If I die tonight, it will be with a grin on my face.' The hug had left you dazed. It was the first full on contact you had experienced with a pony since arriving here. Except the crash with Rainbow, but that would hardly count in this context. Pinkie was soft, and the scent of candy was strong and seemed to originate from her mane which was right under your nose. It felt like being hugged by a teddy bear, only this was way better than any teddy bear. She broke the hug after only a few seconds, but for you it had felt like an eternity of bliss. Pinkie looked at you, satisfied with her hug as you stood completely still with your eyes half closed and a big grin on your face, then she turned to Twilight. "Are you guys going to see Fluttershy?" Twilight, who was looking at you in spite, was a bit startled by the question. "Yup. Since we don't have the resources here to reverse the spell today, we're touring around Ponyville. And Fluttershy's cottage was next on our list." She gave the pink mare a gentle glare. "Do you want to tag along with us?" Clearly she wasn't very fond of the idea of her tagging along. "As much as I'd like to, I have somewhere else I need to be." Pinkie seemed oblivious to Twilight's gesture of slight resentment. Snapping out of your trance you look over at your former hugging partner. "Well, we'll be there at the party tomorrow. Guess we'll see you then." Pinkie stood up on her hind legs and waved her front hooves furiously at you and Twilight. "Be there or be square, then be there! I have to go deliver these cakes to Cranky so I have to fly. See you tomorrow!" Pulling out a basket from nowhere and putting it on her head with a strap under her chin, Pinkie bounced away. You and Twilight only stood still and watched the pony leave, then looked at each other. "She's rather energetic isn't she." Your mask was starting to crack as the warm smile you usually wore in these situations were far wider than you meant for it to be. "She's Pinkie Pie. There is no better way to define what she is. Believe me, I've tried." Twilight turned around and started walking along the path in the other direction. You walked quickly to catch up and walk by her side. "I'll take your word for it then." You smiled and look down at Twilight, who only looked straight forward with a scowl. "Is something the matter, Twilight?" Twilight's cheeks turned a shade of red and she looked away. "Nothing's the matter." she said, then turned back to you. "It's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind is all." She forced a smile while saying it, but it looked more sincere after a short moment. 'What was that about. Did she have a falling out with Pinkie? Pinkie didn't look like she had a grudge against Twilight though. Was she jealous of Pinkie's hug?' The thought that it might have been something you did bothered you. You didn't want Twilight to be mad at you, or feel any kind of unhappy in general. "You sure?" you pursued with an indication of concern in your voice. "I'm sure." She looked like her happy self again now, maybe it was just you over thinking things again after all. It wasn't very long until you reached a wooden bridge that made path over a small creek. On the other side you could see a house almost completely camouflaged in the nature surrounding it, only betrayed by the paved pathway and fence that lead up to the front door. A second look showed the blue curtains behind the clear windows, though the brightness of the sun outside made the inside of the house seem dark and vacant. The outside of the house however, was very lively. Everywhere you looked there was a critter of some sort, and clucking sounds from the chicken coop gave the chickens' presence away. The contrast between the blue sky and different shades of green nature was stunningly pretty. All the animal sounds together with the sight of it all gave the whole scene a sense of tranquility. Your observant eye caught movement in a curtain on the second floor of the cottage. "I think somepony saw us coming." you remarked, pointing at the window you had made your observation. Knowing this pony was very shy by nature, you had hoped you could at least get close to see Fluttershy before she ran away after noticing you. "Let's see if she answers the door then." Twilight's voice indicating she didn't have too high hopes that you would get a response. "Let's." All the excitement your body felt today had made you quite tired, and the feeling was much more diluted now walking up to the cottage door than it was the first time you had seen Rainbow Dash this morning. Twilight raised a hoof and knocked on the red two-part door with three solid knocks. Talking could be heard inside, though it was too low to hear what was being said. When it gradually became louder it sounded like someone having a conversation... or an argument. Fluttershy wasn't alone in there. "... -not going out there, I won't know what to say, what if he doesn't like me, we don't know what he does to ponies he doesn't like." "Don't worry Fluttershy. I met him this morning and he didn't seem remotely dangerous." 'Somepony I met this morning?' The door knob twitched a little, then it went silent and the sound of a struggle was coming through the door. Shortly after, the door flung open, and in the opening stood Rainbow Dash. You were a little surprised seeing her here, but Twilight didn't seem to remark it as anything special. Behind Rainbow was a trembling pink and yellow lump of fur. The thrilling feeling of experiencing something otherworldly emerged once again. Seemed you still had it in you after all. You braced yourself for meeting the scared pony with your friendly poker smile. Rainbow Dash was the first of the two pegasi to greet you. "Hey! We meet again. Fluttershy, why don't you say hi." The pink maned pegasus got up with a fresh breeze of confidence and walked towards the door with her eyes fixed on Rainbow. "Fine Dashie, but I really don't like you forcing me into these things. I'd really like to do things at my own - Eek!" Looking up at you for a moment, Fluttershy gave off a startled squeal and hid back behind Rainbow, who closed her eyes in a heavy sigh at the quivering pegasus. Not an entirely unexpected reaction, you thought. "Consider his feelings for a second would you Fluttershy?" "It's alright, I get that I look unusual." "Well yea. But now we know you're cool. So it shouldn't be such a big deal, should it, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy slowly stood back up and walked up besides Rainbow Dash in the doorway, switching her eyes between the floor and you every other second. "Well, um... I guess not. I'm sorry. Hello Twilight, and welcome." You try to give her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry about it. I’ve been getting strange reactions all day.” Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a gentle pat on the head, making sure not to mess up her mane. "Hi Fluttershy." Twilight said smiling trying to lighten up Fluttershy's mood, but she now only stood crouched in the doorway looking to her right, making herself as small as possible and hiding her face behind her mane. Rainbow spoke up since Fluttershy had shied away into silence. "It's nice to see you both. So what's up?" Before Twilight could answer you wanted to try an ice-breaker. "Twilight is showing me around Ponyville today, and so far I haven't seen anything as pretty as your garden and the area surrounding it, Fluttershy." She carefully looked back up at you to acknowledge your compliment. "Um, thanks." "And you have a lot of critters I see. I'm an animal lover myself, are you friends with all of them?" Hearing your statement, Fluttershy looked up at you with more interest. "Why, yes. All the animals and critters around here are my friends. I feed them and take care of them if they fall ill." "That's pretty impressive. I've never had any more than a couple of pets at most, and that alone is hard work." It seemed the tactic worked. It was the first time you really felt the knowledge from the TV show had really helped out. Though you felt a little dirty, because in a way what you did was cheating. "Oh, it's not a problem, they are all well behaved, and most of them don't need that much looking after." The yellow pegasus had the softest, gentle voice. Just hearing her speak could make one feel relaxed. Impressed by your crafty diplomatic skills, Twilight looked at you with big eyes in surprise before turning to the pair standing in front of her. "Could you perhaps show him around? You know these woods more than anypony." "Sure Twilight, anything for a new friend." Good chills ran through your body as Flutteshy's words reached your ears. 'Best. Day. Ever.' Your mind did a victorious fist-pump action. Today had been well spent making new friends, of your dreams! Fluttershy's garden was much bigger than expected. It took almost two hours to see all the sights Fluttershy had deemed worthy of presenting. Rainbow Dash had tagged along as well. Fluttershy had taken you to an old tree in the midst of the forest about a ten minute walk from her cottage. She had told you what you were going to see, and you had become quite skeptical if it was worth the trouble of walking through the woods for so long to see a tree. Any skepticism was removed once you entered a clearing in the forest that roomed a tree with a very thick trunk. It's ancient looks gave it a magical presence. The bottom branches had no leaves growing on them anymore, but the top was green and thriving. At the base of the trunk, the roots had reached out wide to form small caves under the huge tree, in which groups of deer had taken residence. Fluttershy floated over to them and kept them calm as you approached, giving you a chance to pet the tame animals. Time passed by quickly while seeing all these beautiful places. You were on your way back to the cottage when Rainbow Dash's stomach started to growl, quickly followed by your own. Twilight give a light sigh. "Maybe it's about time for dinner. I am getting pretty hungry myself." Fluttershy gently glided back around from her position at the front of the pack to land besides you. "Oh, I can make us dinner." Fluttershy suggested with a gentle smile. Rainbow Dash was quick to land besides the yellow pegasus and pointed a hoof out in protest. "You made dinner yesterday, 'Shy. I promised that I'd make you dinner today. I'll just make a double portion since we have guests." "Well, that's true. I guess, if you really want to, it's fine." Rainbow Dash nods, then closed her eyes in thought for a moment. "Twilight said something about humans not being able to eat a bunch of stuff this morning though. So what can we cook up?" While Rainbow Dash was inside the cottage making dinner - with help from Twilight - you were outside befriending Fluttershy's bird collection. You had birds sitting all over your head and outstretched arms when Fluttershy's smile dimmed down to a little more serious look than you were used to seeing on this mare. You looked at Fluttershy and exert yourself to speak without moving too much, in an attempt to not frighten the birds. "What's the matter? You seem not so happy all of sudden." The pegasus looked up at you. "It's just, you know, I'm just sorry how I acted when I first saw you. I was judging a book by its cover." "I told you it was alright didn't I?" You smile reassuringly at her. "That’s not all I want to say though. Even after I got a bit distracted by the fact that you loved animals, I was a bit worried. But now I'm just curious really." "What is it?" "Well, one of the first things I noticed when I saw you..." She took a short pause looking away from you, then looked back into you eyes. "You have carnivore teeth." What Fluttershy was saying surprised you, but maybe it shouldn't have. She was a master with animals after all, of course she would have noticed something like that. She continued, "Does that have anything with you not being able to eat hay and the like?" Your face turns serious as well. This isn't a subject you can shove or joke away. You have to reassure her somehow without telling the entire truth. The fact that you actually prefer a good burger would probably freak somepony out. "You're right Fluttershy." You let your arms down and the birds fly away. You couldn't look serious with twelve birds on your arms. Fluttershy didn't look scared, she bore a face of anticipation, waiting for you to come with some explanation. "Where I am from, using my teeth for what they're designed for, is a choice. Lots of humans go through their entire lives eating nothing but what grows out from the ground. It's actually becoming more and more common, but our digestive system can't break down hay and flowers the way yours can." Fluttershy's face showed off a smile again, looking like she was happy with what she heard, though you weren't sure if you had explained it well enough. "That's good to hear at least. I wasn't really worried, I was just curious. I know you wouldn't hurt anypony, I can see it in your eyes." Captivated by her words, you could understand why she would be the element of kindness. Dinner was served on a picnic rug outside the cottage. The appetizer was a salad, seemingly mixed with different fruits and vegetables, not something you were used to, but completely edible. For the main course the ponies had made pasta with mushroom sauce. And it was pretty darn good. After not leaving any scraps, everyone laid back in the grass. Some small talk were exchanged, and without you realizing, it you drifted to sleep. You woke up just as gradually as you had fallen asleep. The only give-away that you had slept for a while, was the sky starting to turn orange as the sun was almost setting. Not hearing anypony, you sit up to look for them. You hadn't even gotten half way up before you noticed Twilight. She was laying with her back turned towards you just a couple of feet away. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen, and the picnic rug was gone. Stealthily you lean over Twilight to check on her status. Fast asleep. You take a while to admire the cute sleeping pony. She looked so peaceful, if you had any place to be you'd probably delay it, since it would involve waking her up to get there. You moved closer to her and laid back down, your cheek nearly touching her back. Reaching out a hand you want to touch her coat, but you retracted it, thinking she might be insulted by it somehow. You didn't know pony etiquette, so why take the risk. In the middle of a grassy field, you laid with one of the ponies of your dreams. You felt the calm summer breeze perfectly nullifying the heat from the summer sun. Leaving just the right amount of warmth on your skin. 'Wonder if the pegasi actually calculate all this stuff.' You didn't realize how long you rested like this, as you drifted in and out of consciousness and the sky became a darker shade of orange every time you opened your eyes. Twilight sure smelled nice.
Chapter 6A gust of wind blew the soothing warmth off your skin, abruptly waking you from your slumber. Sitting up and opening your eyes you noticed the sky had become a dark purple, with the horizon glowing orange as the sun disappeared behind the round hills. You leaned back on your arms in a sitting position, feeling the dry grass tickling around your fingers, and turning your head towards Twilight who laid besides you. She had shifted her body while you slept, since now she was curled up in a ball with her facing you. Watching the pony still sound asleep made you feel a bit bad for having to wake her. "Twilight. Hey, Twilight," you whisper. The mare slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, the motion quickly accompanied by a yawn. She looked up at you, then at the murky skies above you. Now awake, she quickly got up on her hooves. "Oh no, we overslept. I shouldn't have let you sleep for that long." Making a frown she looked at you. "It's probably too late to see more of Ponyville today." "No worries, it was a good nap." Trying to comfort her you smile, since you had no regrets falling asleep. You'd even had the opportunity to cut the nap short yourself, but chose not to, so it was just as much your fault for oversleeping as it was hers. You hear a sound of crumpling - or rather, straightening - paper, as a notebook popped out of thin air in front of Twilight. "But I had planned on taking you more places. I made a list, and we weren't even halfway through it yet," she said, scanning a page in her notebook. "I had a really good time. It doesn't matter if we don't get to see any more today, we'll get to see more tomorrow," you said trying to imply that you didn't mind staying here longer. Twilight lightened up an ounce from hearing your words. "Well, I guess." She smiled, and the notebook crumpled back into the nothingness whence it came. "We should get back to the library for now at least, it's getting late." "Sure thing." You nodded in agreement, drowsily getting up on your feet. The two of you then proceeded to walk back towards Ponyville. If only you had bothered to put on a hoodie before leaving for university. Merely wearing a T-shirt, the temperature drop was quite noticeable. Though it wasn't freezing, it wasn't exactly warm either. During the day, the sun had been more than enough to keep you warm from the cool late-summers day, but now that the source of heat was gone you couldn't wait to get inside and get cozy under your blanket. The light of day faded quickly. Even after the short trip back to the library you could clearly see the brightness had dimmed compared to how it was at Fluttershy's cottage. It looked like the sun moved faster after it had set, as the remaining light quickly faded. Now, the moon was rising to do the sun's job to the best of its ability. When you entered the library, the balmy air met you at the door to soothe your chilled skin. You walked in and stood still for a moment. Not wanting to waltz in and make yourself at home, you wait to see what Twilight was going to do before you felt it was appropriate to make a move. "You want a snack? We still have a ton of apples." "That'd be great, thanks." After the unicorn had walked off towards the kitchen, you decided it was alright to enter. You sat down by the center table and reached for your sleeping blanket. Having comfortably wrapped yourself in, you look towards the kitchen and see a red apple floating towards you. Twilight walked up to the table and sat down across from you, with another apple levitating besides her. Grabbing the apple in front of you, the lavender glow around it faded, and you felt its weight sink in your palm. You looked at the mare with a smirk. "I'll never get used to seeing stuff float around like that." Twilight let out a hearty chuckle. "It's hard to believe that there's a world out there without magic, and with a whole other set of physical laws. I would have loved to have the opportunity to study them somehow." "I guess we're in the same boat then." You smiled and took a bite out of the big red apple. 'Mmmmm. Juicy.' A comfortable silence filled the library as you snacked on the fruits. You finished yours first, leaving your mouth free to talk. "I guess we won't be able to fall asleep for a while." "That may be true." Twilight swallowed the last bite of her apple. As she did, her eyes brightened up like she just got an idea. She picked up the remains of the apples with magic and headed for the kitchen to throw them away. "I know what we can do. I think you'll like it." Pondering on what the purple unicorn had in store, you watch in anticipation as she returned from the kitchen. She excitedly motioned for you to follow her up the stairs. "Come on, I have something I would like to show you." Without unwrapping yourself from your blanket you accompanied her, curious to see what it is she was so eager about. Your mind started wandering as you moved towards the stairs. Then it hit you. 'Wait... What is it she wants to show me in her bedroom?' You start to get nervous as you ascended towards the door. Walking up the stairs and into her sleeping chamber, you saw books covering every wall, and her bed in an open space one floor above you, but the mare had already vanished up another spiral staircase located on the right. You had to bend forward while walking up the stairs. You could have just crawled up on all fours, like the pony leading the way, but your chose not to. Without flinching, Twilight trotted towards a wooden hatch at the top of the stairs, making it open with her magic, showing you the crystal clear night sky. You found yourself on a terrace at the top of the library. It was a long way down, and you could see the the moon lighting up all of Ponyville with its cold white glow. On the terrace there was a big telescope that Twilight was already sitting besides. She was looking into the eyepiece while tweaking and turning on different handles. Not too surprised with what the star-flanked unicorn had in mind, you smile. 'I should have guessed.' Stargazing with Twilight was fun. Even more amusing was her eagerness to show you everything the sky had to offer, which was quite a lot. Hours went by as you talked about everything from fission to star formations while taking turns looking into the telescope. Many laws of physics didn't work in the same way - or at all - here, and you could barely begin to comprehend the differences as you observed the white stars orbiting the planet you sat on. It was like being in the center of a galaxy. Some stars where moving faster across the sky than others, as they were most likely closer. Twilight told you about how the sun and moon were moved by magic, by the princesses Celestia and Luna. The thought alone baffled you. How could two ponies have the power to move the huge sun and moon, not to mention stars around a planet? Celestia and Luna had to have some serious power in them to do something this huge on a daily basis. Some things here seemed to resemble the physics you knew, though. Twilight did some adjustments and turns her telescope towards a seemingly dark section of the sky. You looked into the eyepiece and saw a white and purple space-cloud. First off, this was a darned good telescope. "It's the T42 Sparkle Nebula." Twilight remarks proudly. "It's named after you?" "They discovered it right after I was enrolled in princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. It was her decision to name it that." Happy to hear that there were still some things you didn't know about your new friends, you looked at Twilight, and give her the awe she wanted. "Now that is cool." You sat back as Twilight moved over to find the next awesome thing she wanted to show you, eager as ever. The cold was really kicking in now. You, coming from a place that had just reached the end of spring, had a hard time adjusting to summer nearly being over, with the chilly autumn weather lurking just around the corner. The thin blanket wasn't enough to keep your body isolated anymore. You didn't want Twilight to know that, though, as she was having the best time you've seen her have all day. It was worth enduring the cold to see her happy. Twilight turned to you, done with focusing the thick optical tube at a new spectacular target. As she turned around she saw you wrapping the blanket around you closer as you tried to keep warm. Smiling at you, she took a step away from the telescope. "You know, you could have just told me if you were getting cold." "Nonsense. I never get cold." Grabbing the blanket tighter you make a gesture that you were obviously joking. Twilight catches up on it and laughs lightly. "Want to go back inside?" "Maybe that's not such a bad idea, it would be bad if one of us got sick while staying here." At the bottom of the spiral staircase, you walked back into Twilight's room, standing still for a moment to sense the warmth in the room absorbing into your skin. You felt a yawn coming on, and welcomed it. "Maybe we should try to get some sleep? Then we'll have more time tomorrow to get through your list," you said in mid yawn, while forcing through a smile. Twilight stopped in a sudden realization. "Shoot! I totally forgot about fixing you somewhere to sleep tonight!" she exclaimed. "It's no problem Twilight, don't worry about it. I'll sleep where I-" "No." Twilight interrupted. "You're not sleeping on the floor again." "Then what do you propose?" Twilight took a moment to think, trotting back and forth in front of you. She halted in the middle of a turn and looked at you, her cheeks turning a familiar shade of red. "I-It's too late to go out and get something to fix anything up... so you're going to have to sleep in my bed." "I'm not kicking you out of your bed, Twilight." You said with a serious tone. "Then..." She pauses for a second. "We can share the bed. It should be big enough, and I don't need that much room anyway." Your heart started beating faster as your thoughts raced about sharing a bed with this girl, forgetting for a moment that she was a pony. Reminding yourself of this didn't slow your heart rate much, but it set perspective on how the situation was at the moment. She wasn't going to let you sleep on the floor, and you weren't going to kick her out of her own bed. "Alright, if your bed is big enough, then it won't be a problem I guess. I feel like I'm being a bother, though..." Twilight seemed a bit startled by your answer, her blush becoming more apparent, and she shied her face away from you. "T-Then it's settled. Just make yourself comfortable up there and I'll be right back." Twilight headed towards the bathroom, and you walked up the steps towards the bed. Hesitantly you took off your socks and trousers and dropped down onto the bed. Sitting down, you noticed there was only one pillow present. Feeling a bit relieved you can make yourself busy by fetching your pillow, you headed downstairs to get it. Twilight was still in the bathroom when you got back up. The bed was pretty large, considering the size of a pony. Not exactly the size of your king-sized bed back home, but not far off. There wouldn't be a problem fitting you both at least. You make yourself comfortable with your head at the opposite end of where Twilight's pillow was placed. 'Why would I be nervous about this? She's a pony, nothing would've happened anyway...' The summoning spell’s description lingered in your mind. What if it was right? Were you meant to get it on with a pony? The last thought you quickly shrugged off while you shifted under your trusted blanket. It wouldn't be your style to rush things like that anyway. Even if she was a hot human girl, you'd be a gentleman and not try anything rash. You heard the door close, followed by hoofsteps approaching the bed. "See, I told you there would be enough room." Twilight said, climbing up on the other side of the bed. You felt her soft coat gracing your leg as she was moving around, getting comfortable on her side. After she had settled herself in a good position, her flank part was in contact with the back of your thigh. Both of you facing opposite directions, none of you seemed to mind. Her touch was warm and the physical contact was fine by you. You shifted a bit yourself, casually getting a better feel of her soft fur against your skin. "This is certainly better than the floor, I have to admit." "I suspected it would be," the unicorn responded with a happy tone in her voice. You lifted your head and let it sink into the softness of your pillow once more. "Good night, Twilight." "Sleep tight." You smile as you closed your eyes, focusing on the warm touch of Twilight's flank on your leg. She had an awesome personality and all, but the thought that you might be flirting with an equine was a little uncomfortable. Still you couldn't bring yourself to pull away, even though you had plenty of space to do so.
Chapter 7You kept your eyes closed, even though you woke up quite a few minutes ago. Yesterday had been tiring, but now you felt rejuvenated as you realized that you were still in Equestria. It was all too good to be true. Moving slightly, you felt Twilight’s head resting on your naked thigh. You had both shifted quite a bit while you had slept, with her now lying curled up between your spread legs as you were lying on your back. A tingling sensation in your leg told you it had fallen asleep, so you were conflicted over whether to adjust your position and risk waking her, or continue pretending to sleep. You decided on the latter option. You detected movement as Twilight woke up. Her head rose quickly as she noticed the rather friendly pose you both found yourselves in. Flustered, she clumsily tried to sneak out of bed. Only after she touched down on the floor did you end your charade with a fake yawn. "Good morning, Twilight." Startled, the mare turned and faced you. "Oh sorry, did I wake you?" Twilight responded. "Nah, don't worry about it. I was on the brink of waking up anyway." "Alright then. Erm... Want to go downstairs for some breakfast?" "Ye, sure. Just let me get dressed and I'll be right down." Twilight raised an eyebrow as she started trotting towards the bedroom door. "I don't get why you want to be dressed for every occasion. It's just breakfast." As you rolled over on the bedside to reach for your trousers you felt the damp T-shirt as a chilled membrane against your skin. Having a spare change of clothes would have been great right now. You wouldn't want to walk around smelling awful. Smelling the shirt, you concluded that the odor wasn't too bad just yet. 'I'll have to come up with some way to get this cleaned if I’m going to be staying a while.' After getting dressed you headed downstairs. Twilight had already set the table. A plate with peeled apples cut into boats, a bowl of hay and daisies, and two glasses filled with a familiar clear liquid. The mare looked at you walking down the stairs and smiled happily. "Did you sleep well?" "Ye, I guess. The myth that a bed is more comfortable than the floor is certainly confirmed." You smiled back at her. "Alright, good. Here, I prepared some apples for you." Twilight said, gesturing a hoof towards the plate. You accepted her charity and sat down by the table. Munching on the apples, your attention settled on your bag that laid on the floor besides you. ‘If there isn't an easy way to transport me home...’ You picked up the bag, with the intention of finding out what you had with you from your world. It's not like you pay any close attention to what's in there at every given moment. You opened your bag and emptied its content on the floor. A bit disappointed you looked down at a couple of textbooks, an empty water bottle, a sketchbook and a pencil case. Looking at the things scattered on the floor, you remembered that you also had your phone with you. Now in your hand, the phone showed that the time back home was now 10:23 pm, and the battery indicator displaying four out of five bars. Twilight got curious at what you are doing. She swallowed her mouthful of hay, then walked over to have a look. Your phone screen turned black as you looked up at her. You should have thought of it earlier, as rationing the battery sounded like a good idea. It could come in handy. “What’s that thing?” Twilight asked. “It’s called a cell phone,” you explained. She only looked at you with a puzzled expression. “Basically it’s a tool for communicating over long distances. Though it has a ton of other functions on it as well, like telling you what time it is, and what the weather is like,” you boasted. “That little thing can do all that?” The mare seemed impressed, but not fully convinced. Dedicated to prove your statement you turned your phone back on, before realizing that it can’t do much without a signal, which this world lacked a great deal of. “Well actually, it can’t do most of its functions here, as it needs a signal from my world to work properly. It can at least show the time back in my world, though. Look.” You showed her your phone background and point at the round clock showing the time, located in the top right corner of the screen. Twilight looks at the phone with most curious eyes, then her stare wanders off to the other items laying on the floor between you. "Judging by this it looks like you're a student, like me." "That I am," you respond apathetically. "Must be frustrating to be kept away from your studies... I certainly would have been," Twilight said with a frown of guilt. "Ha. I'm not sad about that. This is far more interesting than most of the courses I'm taking. Inter dimensional travel isn't exactly dull, you know," you said with a broad grin. You wanted to tell her how awesome your short stay here up until now had been, but you didn't want to make her suspicious about why you like it here so much. Levitating the book on thermodynamics up in front of her, Twilight flipped through a few pages. "Isn't it kind of strange?" Not elaborating more on what she meant, you were compelled to ask. "What's strange?" "You know... with us coming from completely different worlds, and still speaking the same language. Not to mention that our writing languages are almost identical. Chances like these are astronomically small." She was right, maybe it was even too good to be true. Twilight continued, "Maybe there is some connection between our worlds that made it possible to summon you here.” You weren't sure on the matter yourself, but you want to keep Twilight’s spirit up. "You know, you might be onto something." "Maybe, but we still need the resources of the archives to determine anything for certain." "So, that would be where we're heading next?" Twilight nodded. "There are books there on just about everything. I'm sure we can find a spell there that will be able to get you home as well." Twilight said it while smiling, but somehow it seemed that the smile was a bit heavier to maintain as she spoke the words. Was it because of the thought of making you leave? "Guess I'll have to make hay of the situation then. Like going to Pinkie's party tonight is sure to be a good time, right?" you said attempting to lighten her up. Her smile became more sincere again as she sighed softly. "True," she said as she levitates a piece of apple towards her with magic, and eats it. Finished gobbling down your breakfast, you proceeded to put your accessories back into the bag in a neat manner, and your dormant phone back in your pocket. Just as you were done you heard the front door open. You turned your head and saw a purple lizard walking in. You recognized the dragon right away. Except from the real-life scaly appearance, Spike was just like you remembered him. He lazily walked past you and greeted you both, without actually looking at you. "Hi there, Twilight. I'm back. And we have a guest, how nice." Looking like he was on the verge of falling asleep, Twilight gave of an attention-catching cough. "A-hem... Spike, you OK?" She asked the dragon that didn't even seem to notice that there was a strange creature sitting in their living room. "Yeah yeah, I'm just tired from the trip is all. I've been traveling all night." In amazement you studied the green-spiked dragon. He was roughly half the height of a pony. The plump, baby dragon body was covered in shiny purple scales, and spikes of bright green was located on his head, back and tail. Twilight giggled, then looked over at you. "This is Spike, my number one assistant." Still a bit shocked at the sight of a real life dragon you struggled to get your mouth going to greet him. He certainly seemed much more dragon like than he did on television. "Erm... Hi there," you muttered with your warm smile. Spike turned around from his original direction and locked his eyes on you, his head cocking back a notch from noticing your appearance. His face of surprise quickly faded as it was replaced by a raised eyebrow, and the dragon pointed a claw at you. "Yeah, Hi. Who are you anyway?" Twilight stood up and answered before you got a chance to. "I summoned him here while you were absent when trying out a new spell. And we're trying to find a way to send him back." Hearing the purple unicorn's explanation the dragon lets out a heavy sigh. Looking back up at you, Spike walked to you with a warm-hearted smile and his arm stretched out. "Alright well, nice to meet you pal. Sorry for all the trouble we've caused you." You went in for the handshake still sitting down, looking eye to eye with the green-spiked creature, his friendly smile assuring you he was indeed a kind being. "My visit has been very pleasant this far, so no hard feelings." "That's good to hear at least." The dragon stretched his short arms in a yawn before he continued. "But if you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. I'm really tired." "Actually, Spike. Could you do me a favor first?" Twilight said while trotting towards him. "Sure Twilight, what's up?" "I need you to send a letter to the princess for me." Spike looked to his left and see a piece of purple glowing parchment and quill in the air besides him. Celestia was quick to reply as Spike burped up a letter before he could even reach his bed. Annoyed the dragon picked up the scroll and walked back downstairs to deliver it to Twilight. “Now can I go to sleep?” “Eh, sorry. Of course.” Both you and Twilight watched the dragon disappear up the stairs once more, then opening the letter, Twilight began to read: “My most faithful student, your request to gain access to the archives was hardly necessary. Being my personal protégé, you are always welcomed in any facility at the university of Canterlot. Furthermore, the reason behind your request awakes even my interest, and the other scientists will be here to assist you in resolving the matter. A human in Equestria is a rare happening, but not unheard of. Usually they come here with a purpose, though I've never heard of one being summoned here by anypony before. Perhaps that is something you ought to look into as well. I would have sent the royal carriage to pick you up so you could get here as soon as possible, but I sense it would be better to let things go at a more enjoyable pace considering the circumstances. I’ll be awaiting your arrival. Your proud mentor, princess Celestia.” Twilight gazed at the letter with a puzzled look. “What circumstances?” she repeated. The letter you sent to the princess had contained all the information you knew, except from the detail of what spell was used. What Twilight wouldn't let herself keep out, was which book she had used. She hadn't mentioned the title, but the description somewhere along the lines of, “Some author that had written a book about the strongest of pony emotions,” might have been a give-away. Perhaps Celestia knew of the book, and figured out which spell could have done the summoning. You might have thought of this right away, but it seemed like Twilight was having a harder time piecing together the puzzle. She was still looking at the last section of the letter with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe she's holding back some information.” You said trying to convince her to pursue those thoughts later. “You may be right. We should get to Canterlot as soon as possible and get to the bottom of this. I’m also very curious what she meant with humans usually coming here with a purpose” “So, how do we get there?” “Since the princess didn't send us transportation, I guess we have to get there by train,” she concluded. “We’ll go to the station and head out right away, if that’s alright with you.” “Aren't you forgetting about Pinkie’s party?” Twilight was snapped out of her serious tone. “Oh, and there was that.” Raising a hoof to her chin, she thought for a moment. “I guess we should make time for the party. We would be letting everypony down if we decided not to show up.” ‘Yay.’ You were just as interested as Twilight in learning more about the spell, this purpose, and if you would be able to go home, but you would also want to see the other ponies once more now that you had the chance to. Twilight decided that you should at least order the train tickets today, so that you were as ready for the coming day as possible. It was a good reason to get outside too, as you could get on with the sightseeing after the purchase had been done. At the train station, you looked intensely at a schedule next to the window where Twilight is ordering tickets. Your head tilting forty-five degrees. You had thought that there was some sort of system for telling the time in Equestria, but the times on the train schedule were illustrated with three pictures. Each one had a horizontal line with a yellow circle located on different places around it. It was probably illustrating that the train came three times during the day, once in the morning, illustrated by the circle being close to the line on the left side. Once mid-day, shown with the circle placed in the middle above the line. And once in the evening, with the circle lying on the right of the horizontal line. You smiled to yourself as you looked at the almost childish sketch of a schedule. ‘Such a laid back system,’ you thought as you heard hoofsteps against the wooden floor. Twilight trotted towards you with two pieces of red paper in her mouth. As she walked she effortlessly put the tickets into her satchel. The ponies were really efficient for creatures with no arms. “All done?” you asked. She looked back up at you. “Indeed,” she replied smiling. You smiled back at her, then looked over at the schedule board again. “How do you tell the time? Do you only use the sun as a reference?” The mare giggles behind a raised hoof at your question, then gazed at you with a nearly naughty look, her eyes half closed. “Well, I’ll tell you how we tell the time, if you tell me what a jetlag is.” Crossing your arms you look at Twilight, returning the same look. “Deal.” What a sneaky pony. You had explained her the concept of jet lag on your way back into town, which took quite some effort. When it had been your turn to receive information, she had told you their ways of telling time didn't differ much from your own. The reason for having the illustrations on the schedule was that clocks weren't very common among the Ponyvillians, not because they were poor, it just wasn't a necessity. Twilight continued to show you around Ponyville in the order things were written on her list. To your surprise she didn't show you Carousel Boutique until every other shop in town was explored. ‘Wouldn't this be where Rarity works and lives?’ you thought when walking towards the very recognizable round building. Twilight had mentioned the fashion pony on a few occasions, so you knew she was in this world somewhere. Standing outside the dress shop, you could see dresses and suits meant for ponies in every visible window. Twilight pointed a hoof at the building while looking at her notebook that hovered in front of her, checking off a box with a levitating pencil. “And this is the last place on the list, this is where everypony gets their festivity clothes and accessories.” Twilight explained. Nothing about Rarity mentioned? “Think we've seen everything in town now, ey?” “Yup, that’s it. If I haven’t forgotten anything,” she said while squinting her eyes, going through her list to make sure nothing had been left out. Your curiosity spiked. How could you put this without seeming too interested? “So what about this last friend of yours that you've talked about? Who was it... erm, Rarity? Doesn't she live in Ponyville?” You felt like you had jumped off a cliff, waiting to see if your parachute would open and give you a safe landing. You had read enough fan fictions to know that the ponies always freaked when confronted with the fact that there was a show about them in another world. Twilight’s cute smile didn't fade as she answered your question. “Oh, Rarity actually used to run this very shop, her sense of fashion is unmatched in all of Equestria. But she moved to Canterlot and runs her own store there now. It was a dream of hers since she was a filly. I was actually hoping we would be able to see her when we get there.” ‘Well, that was pretty anti-climactic.’ Parachute safely deployed. “So what now, Twilight?” “What about getting a bite to eat, then get ready for the party? It’s about time now anyway.” You nodded in agreement with a broad smile. You had no doubt that the party was going to be awesomeness in epic proportions, but what if all they did at the party was to play pin the tail, or go bobbing for apples... Not really your idea of a party. The fact that you would have another experience with all the ponies would make up for it, though. Even if the party itself was dull. Mr. Cake had happily served you the apple pie you ordered. It felt like the town was already used to having you around, as few ponies even bothered to turn their heads in your direction anymore. Though still they would greet you with an acknowledged nod when walking by. After lunch, you went to the library to freshen up before going to the party, which was being held at a house Twilight had pointed out during your sightseeing. You didn't recognize the house, nor the colt standing outside of it. He was bouncing around and hanging up balloons, his behavior reminding you of Pinkie. Back at the library you had felt a dire need to wash your T-shirt. If you were going to a party with your new-made friends present, you did not want to smell bad. You had the great idea of washing your shirt while taking a shower, using some soap Twilight had given you. Then you asked the unicorn if she could drain the water out of the fabric with magic. She boasted how it was a simple task, and with a lavender glow, the water in the shirt was removed easily in a stream that flowed through the air and to the kitchen sink. Twilight didn't get why you couldn't just go to the party without clothes. No one else was going to be dressed. You had told her you’d feel much more appropriate with clothes on. You were nearly at the designated party house when Twilight looked up at you from having been silent since you had left the library. “I’m glad that you’re here to go to the party with me.” Twilight smiled at you. “Wouldn't it be enough if I wasn't here?” you smirked back at her. "Well, everypony has a date to the party except me, so I wasn't sure about attending, but since you're here I guess it’s fine." Startled by her own words she quickly continued, “I’m not implying that we’re on a date, just that at least I have someone to talk to if I felt left out.” Twilight tried to hide her flushed face by looking straight ahead, though it was still obvious. "Of course, if everyone ends up doing their own things, I would be equally as much left out as you would." You reassured Twilight with a smile. You approached the door to a house covered in balloons and party streamers. Twilight walked up and knocked on the door. Music could be heard inside, with the familiar sound of a subwoofer beating in some rhythm. The colt who answered the door was a new face. He had a light grey coat with a short, dark blue, frizzled mane. Lifting up his rather stylish, star shaped sunglasses he looked at the two of you as his smile widened from ear to ear. “Twilight, You’re here! And not a moment too soon, you two are the last guests to arrive. Everypony else is already inside. Come on, you don’t want to miss out on the games do ya?” He spoke loudly to be heard over the music. Out from behind the colt bounced a more familiar pink earth pony. “There you are! I’m so glad you made it. Not that I ever thought you wouldn't come but I was getting worried you’d be late. And now since you’re not late and that both our guests of honor has arrived we can start up the festivities!” Pinkie bounced up in the air, shaking her legs in excitement. The grey colt turns to the pink pony and sighs, still wearing his wide energetic smile. “How can I be a guest of honor in my own house. It’s you who should be the guest of honor Pinkie.” The pink mare quickly kissed the colt on the cheek to conclude the discussion quickly then turned to you and Twilight, leaving the colt blushing. “Come come inside. Everyone is waiting.” You and Twilight looked at each other with expressionless looks. The unicorn took the lead and walked in, with you in hot pursuit. Inside there was an explosion of colors covering the walls and ceiling, and a table in the back held a mountain of refreshments, being mostly cakes, cupcakes of all colors, and bowls of punch. It wasn't crowded like you had imagined it would be. In fact, there were only two ponies you didn't recognize, one being the colt who opened the door, the second being a rather large, dark green maned colt who was standing next to Applejack. The whole gang - with the exception of Rarity - was here, standing around a table with a tray of snacks on it while talking loudly to compete with the music’s volume. Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing besides you and Twilight, led you to the middle of the living room. “Help yourself to something to drink and come join us.” Before you realized she was gone, you saw the party pony already standing among her friends by the table across the room. Walking over to a bowl of punch, you and Twilight grab a cup each and scoop them into the purple liquid. Twilight didn't hesitate to gulp down all of her cup’s content, before filling it up a second time. She then headed towards the others. Taking a sip of the content in your own cup, your eyes widened. So many questions flew through your mind the instant you felt the burning sensation that followed the liquid down your throat. Yet at the same time, a lot of things made more sense. ‘Alcohol?’
Chapter 8At first you didn’t want to indulge yourself in consuming too much alcohol. Staying sober for the event seemed to make more sense, as you might have mentioned stuff you would regret later. Like implying something you shouldn’t know. Still, you would drink the occasional cup of punch as everyone else seemed very eager to leave their sober state. Without having noticed her leaving the room - which you could have swore never happened - Pinkie came into the living room dragging a tub. Not to your surprise it was filled with water and bobbing apples. Rainbow and Applejack reacted immediately, trotting towards the tub. The two friends gave eachother a smirk and proceeded to dunk their heads into the water. Pinkie Pie looked at her two friends with a satisfied grin. Then disappeared once more to get a large piece of cardboard. Supporting it between her front hooves she placed it in a vacant spot on the living room wall. Another sense of familiarity awakened as the mare walked over to you from the cardboard pony. With a green tassel somehow stuck to her hoof, she stretches her front leg towards you, gesturing you to grab the fake tail. “Here! You should totally go first as you’re the guest of honor! All you have to do is take the tail and pin it on the pony while blindfolded.” It was an honor you’d rather pass this time around. “I would’ve loved to, but...” Looking around, your mind raced to find a reason to delay the games a little more. Your eyes locked on Twilight, who stood behind you, sipping her punch. “... On the way over, I promised Twilight to let her go first if the situation ever arose.” She put on a sly smirk and nodded in understanding. “Oh. Well in that case...” Twilight didn’t get a say in the matter before Pinkie had her blindfolded and tucked the tassel in her mouth. It was like being in a birthday party for a seven year old, excluding the alcohol. Even though the party went pretty much like expected, there were some things that made up for the silly games. One being the sweet-scented pony that dedicated a good five minutes to make you play with them instead of just standing with Twilight and Applejack all night. You had already succumbed to her will some time before actually going ahead and grabbing the tassel that was eagerly waved in front of you, but it brought you great enjoyment to have Pinkie’s attention. The games turned out to be quite fun, at least once you had consumed enough punch. Though, to your dismay, you were really bad at pin the tail, and your poorly designed apple-catching mouth never got a good grip on the biggest apples. Stabbing the cardboard pony in the neck, you took off the blindfolds to inspect your result. Surely you had gotten closer this time around. Looking at the disappointing sight, you couldn’t help but notice a shade of blue lingering in your peripheral vision. Turning your head you met the analyzing face of Rainbow Dash. For a while, she just stood there drunkenly staring, before breaking it off with a satisfied smile. “Would you come outside for just a second? There’s something I’d like you to help me with.” Not questioning what this was about, you stumbled after her. Once outside, the pegasus took a big leap from the entrance so that she landed some distance from the house. The leap would have looked rather majestic if it wasn’t for Rainbow losing her balance on touchdown. You hastily walked after her as she turned around and waited for you to approach. Rainbow started pacing back and forth in front of you like a sergeant speaking to a strict line of soldiers in full salute. “Alright, I have this idea for a trick,” Rainbow started, her voice sounding rather excited. “I’ve thought it through numerous times in my head, and it’s going to be undeniably awesome.” Not sure what to expect, you still couldn’t contain your own excitement. You grinned from ear to ear as you listened to what was being said. “So, what did you have in mind?” “It would be too complicated to explain. Just roll with it.” She turned her back to you and lifted her hind legs, keeping half of her body afloat with flapping wings and front hooves planted on the ground. You took the hint and gripped firmly around the legs in your reach. “Alright, now swing me around as fast as you can!” “Are you sure about this? I don’t see how this will end well.” “I got complete control, don’t worry.” “Okay then... Here I go.” Gaining rotary momentum by twisting your body, you slung the pony around and started spinning. She was light; little effort had to be put in for her to be lifted off the ground. Just after takeoff, she lifted her front legs and stretched them forwards and started flapping her wings vigorously. The pony became harder to hold back as you felt her actions were putting strain on your arms. “Don’t let go before I tell you!” You gripped your hands tighter. Her hooves acted like a good pommel as they were slightly thicker than where you were holding above her ankle. It didn’t take long before you sensed that you wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. You tried to lean back to make up for the force Rainbow was acting forwards, and with you being intoxicated while spinning at a rapidly increasing speed, you felt your common sense starting to tingle. “Just... a bit... more!” The pegasus was obviously used to such high velocities, but you yourself had now lost every sense of direction. Your only focus was on not letting go prematurely. That was when she started jerking her body up and down, forcing the spin to go from a horizontal to a diagonal motion. Praying that this wouldn’t go on much longer, you heard Rainbow give the signal. “GO!!” When her body was about to reach the highest point of the spin, you let go. Immediately after releasing you fell backwards, and after a useless struggle for balance you tumbled over and rolled on the ground. Rainbow Dash went in the opposite direction. Only capturing a tiny glimpse of cyan color you saw that she got quite a bit of air with your throw alone. She was still ascending as you quickly got up and tried to get your bearings so you could see what the pegasus was doing. While ascending, she had spun around her vertical axis, but with a controlled movement she gained complete authority of her body and went directly into a loop. You wanted to see more of the fruits of your combined labor, but you were too disoriented to even keep yourself standing. You squatted down next to the wall instead of involuntarily falling back down on the ground. “What’s happening out here?” You turned your head towards the door you and Rainbow had exited a minute ago, meeting the eyes of Twilight and Fluttershy. One was looking at you questionably while the other immediately rushed off to chase after her marefriend. “Oh... Be careful Dashie!” Fluttershy shouted after the pegasus doing flips and turns dangerously close to the ground and surrounding houses. Your stare following the two pegasi was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Having fun out here?” Twilight said smirking at you. Leaning your head back looking up at the sky you let out a deep sigh. “Heh... I guess you could say that.” Only now you realized it had actually gotten chilly outside as the sun had already set, with only a shade of orange looming in the horizon as evidence that it had once been in the sky. “Well, good.” She walked down the steps and sat down next to you. “Seems to me that you have no problem finding common ground with anypony.” Perhaps you had “cheated” a little too much tonight. Relying on information you already knew to find the right things to say would get suspicious if used too recklessly. Though you didn’t think that you were in a danger zone just yet. “They make it pretty easy, as everyone here are really nice. Making friends is no problem at all.” You looked over at Twilight who turned her eyes towards the sky and smiled. “You’re spot on about that. I had a pretty hard time making friends before coming here. But now I’m making new friends pretty much every time I go out.” “You mean to say that not everypony is like those here in Ponyville?” You asked curiously. “I guess I was a part of my problem too. But no, I think Ponyville is special. I used to live in the capital, ponies there can get pretty full of themselves,” she explained. “I give up," said an exhausted Fluttershy as she walked up to you and Twilight. "She’s impossible to calm down once she gets started.” “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” you said, hoping you were correct. “Oh, I have no doubts about that.” Frustration could be sensed from her voice. “I’m just worried that her being fine will be briefly interrupted by a visit to the hospital.” “It happens that often, huh?” You said in surprise, both because of what she said, and how she said it. She really had no problem shoving away her shyness when she was concerned about her friends. Not much more than a sigh could be exchanged before the sound of a jet engine gradually became more apparent. A feeling of dread filled your stomach. “Mother of - “ You reflexively braced yourself for impact. “wooAAAH!” Everything went black for a moment as you felt the collision, followed by the feeling of your body tumbling some unknown distance down the dirt road. Lying on your back you couldn’t help but laugh at the familiar situation. Seemed like your instincts had helped you keep your breath this time. And the pain, if there was any, was probably dampened by the numbness already covering your body. Rainbow Dash stumbled up on her hooves, then sat her flank back down on the ground while rubbing her head. “Ow. Sorry about that. I seem to be bumping into you a lot lately.” “ Figuratively and literally! Heh. Don’t worry about me, I don’t mind,” you said through a light chuckle. While getting back up you noticed that the two of you had flown quite a bit further than you anticipated. Fluttershy was still trotting over with Twilight right behind her. Fluttershy embraced her Dashie in a hug. “Are you alright? Are you hurt? Do we need to go to the hospital again?” “Calm down Fluttershy,” Rainbow answered. “Give me some credit, it’s been like 3 weeks since last time I got a concussion.” Twilight only smiled and rolled her eyes when she saw you were both in good enough shape to laugh it off. You gave her goofy grin while starting to walk back the direction you and Rainbow had tumbled. “Should we head back inside, you guys? Looks like Mr. Pinkie wants us to play more pin the tail,” you said pointing at the colt standing in the door of the party house. The gray colt was looking back at you while intensely waving the green tail back and forth. “Come on guys! More fun to be had in here!” You all headed back to the house, but before you could enter, something grabbed you and pulled you back outside. You were pretty open minded for going wherever it took the least effort to go, and since putting up any resistance didn’t seem very convenient, you just tagged along. “Don’t think you’ve got me fooled mister.” The squeaky voice was impossible to misplace. Pinkie let go of your shirt and turned to you with her large magnifying glass back in front of her left eye. The anxiety was back. Was she about to blow your cover for real this time? Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and made another serious look appear on her face. It really gave her a whole new image than her usual goofy and bright self. “You’re leaving us aren’t you?!” left the mare’s lips as her eyes started to look more depressed than angry. “You say what? Is that what you think I’m hiding?” “It’s one of the things I know you’re hiding, and it’s the thing that matters right now.” What you are doing that gives away all your secrets to this bouncing ball of pink fluff, you would probably never know or understand. But at least she wasn’t out to make your life difficult. “Well, yes. Twilight and I are leaving tomorrow to go to Canterlot. Twilight thinks we can find a way of getting me home there. Sorry for not telling you, I just kinda assumed everyone knew.” “Huh, I guess that makes sense.” She smiled and started to bounce in place, then slowly stopping after a little while, though still smiling happily. “I just have a feeling this is the last time we’ll see you, you know. It’s kinda sad just getting a new friend then never seeing him again.” You realized what she was saying might be true, if you do have a chance to get home, you should probably consider taking it. This world is what you’ve dreamed of for months, but is it worth discarding your old life, where you have friends, family, and people expecting you to get your assignment done by next Friday? “My time here has been a dream come true, I’ll never forget you guys.” You said it with complete sincerity. The party pony looked up at you with a faint smile. She was surprisingly sharp, it seemed she always had everything figured out. “You promise?” You were about to answer an honest ‘yes’, but in a flash you get a much better idea. With a smirk on your face you start off by motioning your right hand diagonally across your chest, then recited the incantation you had heard dozens of times before coming here. “Cross my heart.” You moved your hand up and pointed towards the sky, “and hope to fly.” Now gently clenching your left fist you moved it to a closed eye. “Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie looks at you with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, then she started to bounce excitingly around you. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” You couldn’t think of anything bad that would happen from confirming her suspicions, she had it all pretty much figured out anyway, she deserved that much. It would be your little secret. The next thing you know, loud knocks against the wooden bedroom door made your mind cringe. The yelling that came after didn’t help your craving for quiet. “Erm, Twilight? There are tickets for the train that leaves at sunrise on the table downstairs, you sure you should still be sleeping?” You recognized the voice outside as Spike. Slowly opening your eyes you found yourself lying flat out on the bed. You stared at the ceiling as you took a moment to analyse your condition. Hangover, not too bad. Mouth, in need of saturation. Belly, being pressured and felt very warm. ‘Warm?’ You noticed that there was movement around your chest area. You looked down and saw a purple, messy maned unicorn sound asleep lying half across your abdomen. In no condition to deal with the situation, you laid your head back down on the bed. The absence of a pillow gave you a longing for one. You let the feeling go quickly as you concluded that finding, fetching and placing the pillow under your head wasn’t worth the effort. The feeling of the soft pony on top of you made up for it anyway. ‘Nothing happened after we got home, right? Probably not...’ You heard more knocks, then the creaking sound of the old door opening. “Twilight?” Spike poked his head inside the room. Twilight’s breathing changed, and she shut her eyes tighter, probably awake at this point. “Will you be taking the train today or not?” the dragon pursued. She opened her eyes and straightened up her neck. Reacting to the intimate position in the same manner as she did the morning before, she stumbled backwards and fell off the bed, giving off a loud yelp as she broke the fall with her rump. Rubbing her bruised flank with a hoof, she got up and looked outside the window. The sun was just rising up over the horizon. “Crud! We’re going to be late!”
Chapter 9You walked downstairs whilst rubbing some very persistent sleep out of your eyes. The light throbbing in your head was accompanied by a strong urge to pee, and each step down the stairs enhanced the intensity of both feelings. Twilight was running around in a seemingly random pattern as she collected books and parchment, levitating them into a satchel sitting on the center table. Meanwhile, Spike was cleaning up the candles and paint that had been making a mess on the floor ever since you first arrived in Equestria. “You sure know how to make a big mess in such short amount of time,” said Spike while scrubbing the paint that made up the runic circle. “I’m sorry, there’s been so much going on I never found the time to clean up.” Trotting over to the satchel, she put a final vial of ink into the bag before closing it. “There, that should be everything I need for the trip,” Twilight concluded and proceeded to float the satchel onto her back while moving towards the coat hanger. Spike noticed her putting on a scarf and stood up to shoot a concerned glance her way. “You’re not even going to eat breakfast?” you heard Spike say while you threw your own bag over your shoulders. “There’s no time for that now, Spike. The train won’t wait for us if we’re late.” It looked like she just fully realized this herself, because as soon as she was done saying it she hurried even more. “Well... when will you be back?” Twilight seemed to calm down somewhat after hearing her dear assistant worry. Giving him a reassuring smile, she walked over to give him a hug. “I don’t know Spike. Not too long I hope. But I know I’ll need you to take care of the library while I’m gone.” She took a step back and looked him in the eyes. “Are you up to the task?” She said it like it was a challenge, and Spike gave her a brave smile. “No problem!” He said proudly with his claws on the hips and his chest buffed. “I’ll take care of things here, I am a dragon after all.” Twilight smiled at him. “Good, I knew I could count on you.” Her horn started glowing as she started to head towards the door, and a scarf covered in a lavender aura flew your way. “And this is for you. It’s chilly outside.” “Fair enough. Thanks.” You smiled gratefully as you gripped the soft piece of fabric and tossed it around your neck as you went for the door. Before bending down to walk out the pony-sized opening, you turned to your scaly acquaintance. “It was really nice meeting you, Spike. Take care.” He looked at you with a grin. “Nice to meeting you too. Hope you find what you’re looking for.” You nodded back at him, then stepped outside. You felt a little guilty having Twilight leave the little dragon here all by himself on your account. Then again, he wasn’t all alone in Ponyville. Fluttershy would probably be more than happy to keep him company if need be. Besides, Twilight would be back as soon as she could. As soon as you were gone... The cold air was brushing against your exposed face and arms, making you yearn for the warmth back at the cozy library. Half of the sun was already shining its light over the horizon, and you had trouble keeping up with Twilight as she was nearly in a full gallop through town. The streets that had been crawling with ponies during the day now looked desolate. Only a few ponies opening their stores were sighted as you rushed to the train station. After passing the town square, you saw the station up ahead, with the train already docked. “There it is! Let’s hurry, it might leave at any moment now!” Twilight yelled and picked up the pace even more, like you weren’t falling behind enough already. You made a valiant effort to shout back despite your lack of breath. “Wait up!” She didn’t show any signs of slowing down, so you had no choice than to just keep up to the best of your ability. “You have four legs! It’s not fair!” Exhausted, you caught up with Twilight who stood on the platform waiting for you. You walked up the steps and bent down to catch your breath. Twilight barely looked phased from the morning run. “It’s... far too early... to be running around.” “Well, we made it, didn’t we?” Twilight stated happily. “The conductor hasn’t even entered the train yet.” She gestured towards to a Pony wearing a blue conductor vest and hat, who was walking directly towards you. “Good morning there, you two,” said the colt. He sounded very formal, and his voice was surprisingly deep, considering his size. “Might one of you be Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You and Twilight looked at one-another, then back to the conductor. “Yes... I am Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stated. “Did you think there was a faint possibility that it was me who was Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You said jokingly. The conductor gave off a short laugh. “Oh, no, of course not,” he said while taking off his rather fancy hat. “I was told by a royal guard who was told by Princess Celestia personally that I was to make sure you caught the train today. Apparently you are going to Canterlot, correct?” “The princess must really want to see us.” said Twilight with a cheer. “More importantly,” you said while straightening up and looked at the conductor pony. “Does that mean you can wait just a minute longer?” He looked a little confused as to why you made the request. “I suppose so,” he answered. “May I ask why?” “Is something wrong?” Twilight inquired. Finally having caught your breath, you immediately made a sprint for the small outhouse with a moon engraved on the door that stood next to the platform. “I just really gotta go. Be right back!” You swiftly opened the door and slammed it shut behind you. You were surprised to see that the toilet looked oddly like a normal one. Well, you were used to seeing toilets like this all the time, but what surprised you was it didn’t have any special design that made it seem customized for the usage of ponies. You would think that at least something would be different from a normal human made outhouse - you had a difficult time imagining Twilight pooping on this thing. You supposed it was a general statement, though. Not that it made anything less convenient. The pressure relief was just as satisfactory. The train was just as empty as the streets of Ponyville at this hour. The interior of the car looked much like the living room of a wooden house, except the only furniture were benches and tables bolted to the floor and walls. The two of you chose to get seated on either side of a fold-out table. The seats were simple benches with fluffy, red cushions on the seat and back, and certainly of higher quality than what you were used to. The cushions were soft and would definitely make the journey a comfortable one. You placed your bags underneath the table as you sat down. The steam whistle blew, and you felt the train accelerate as it started its trip towards Canterlot. For a long while you and Twilight simply stared out the window at Ponyville as it was slowly devoured by the horizon. Twilight broke the silence after Ponyville was out of sight. “Did you ever expect to go to another dimension?” You figured you might as well answer honestly. “No, but sometimes I would hope for something like this to happen.” Twilight perked up and turned away from the window to look at you. “Really? Weren’t you happy where you were?” She seemed more interested now than when she asked the first question. You took a moment to think about it before trying to satisfy Twilight’s curiosity. “Have you ever read a fiction novel you couldn’t put down? Something so good you would wish that it was real, or that you could experience some of its content first-hand?” “It happens, of course. But I never lose sight of what is real and what isn’t.” “Well, sometimes after I read a novel, I long for a place where things are different. Maybe because the author made his world so perfect that perhaps it wouldn’t be normal not to long for it. As for separating fiction and reality... This world would be considered fiction in my world. So how am I supposed to categorize the two now?” You grinned. Twilight sat across the table like a dog would sit on a sofa, which to you looked a little awkward. Why wouldn’t they have more pony-friendly seats? “I can see what you mean, but that doesn’t really answer my question.” “I guess I just wanted to experience something otherworldly,” you answered. Like this, conversation topics flew by. Among other things you had asked if she knew who invented the Equestrian steam engine. She had told you the invention was credited to a scholar named Intuition about a hundred years ago. No one had bothered making any improvements to his train designs, so they still used the original blueprints when building new cars and locomotives. The conversations eventually came to a stop, as both you and Twilight ended up just staring out the window. Thinking about whatever came to mind, you slipped back into analyzing the situation with Twilight and the summoning spell. You decided you wanted to hear what she was thinking of this whole situation. "Why do you think the spell did what it did?" you asked her. It took a little while before she answered. "I’ve been thinking about it, and I have ruled it down to three possibilities." She took a moment to face you before continuing. "The first option would be that the spell didn't work, Meaning it wouldn't have done anything, or done something it wasn't designed for. The latter is rather rare, but obviously something did happen. Second option, the spell did exactly what it was designed for, but the diagram or the description was wrong. To confirm those I need to study the rune I used to fully understand the design and its purpose." Twilight took a long pause as she drifted away into her own thoughts. "And the third possibility?" You already had a faint idea of what it was going to be, but wanted to hear her say it anyway. Twilight turned her gaze to the window. "Third option. It did work. The description is without flaw, and the spell did what it was made for." The redness returned to her cheeks. You wanted to think that you now knew what you both were thinking, but you wouldn't pursue it further based on that assumption. With what the third option implied in mind, a mix of feelings built up in your chest. "Well, which do you think is more likely?" Now you were starting to feel uneasy, like a lump was stuck in your throat. "I don't know what to think. At first I thought it had to be option one or two, but now I'm not so sure,” she explained, then paused for a second. “I want to go to the Canterlot archives to investigate it further before saying anything for certain." You felt your heart beating faster. You hadn't thought this through. How were you going to respond to what she was saying? Twilight continued before you got to say anything. "But leaving the why aside. Going to research the spell might give us a clue how to get you home." Twilight looked up at you, with her eyes betraying her smile. You smiled back at her, wanting to reassure her somehow. "What I do know is that coming here has been one of the best experiences of my life. Also, I feel that spending a day just talking with you wouldn't have been a day wasted." Twilight giggled behind a hoof for a moment before looking back at you. "You're really a smooth talker, you know that?" "I've had my suspicions for a while." You said with a smug tone. After jokingly leaving the subject, and with both of you being tired from the night before, the conversations died down into thoughts. You hadn’t asked her how long the journey would take, but even after a little while there were no signs of a tall castle. And eventually, you dozed off. “Hello? Wake up, this is your stop.” You tried to ignore the disturbance at first, but quickly remembered where you were, and with a twitch you came to your senses. “Ah good. We’ve arrived in Canterlot. You should wake up your friend and leave the train. Exits are on the left side of the car.” the conductor instructed as he left. You saw Twilight curled up on the red cushions facing you, breathing lightly as she slept. You would have just let her sleep if the circumstances were different, but you thought it best if you got off the train. The conductor hadn’t been able to wake her by speaking to her, so you nudged her hoof with your shoe. “Twilight. I think we’re here.” you said, hoping you didn’t have to poke her harder. She gave off a cute grunt before slowly raising her head to look out the window. “Wha... Oh, shoot. I slept the whole trip?” She quickly got up and let herself down on the floor. “Come on, we’re getting off,” she ordered as she used her magic to pick up her bag. Watching her placing it on her back reminded you of your own bag. You gracefully threw yourself back to grab it by the strap. You didn’t know how long the train ride had lasted, but seeing the sun nearly in the middle of the sky you would guess four to six hours. Or ten to twelve, depending on whether it was just past or just before noon; you couldn’t really distinguish if it was still early, or getting late. The latter seemed unlikely as it didn’t feel like you had slept that long. All around you heard the ambience of the talking crowd and the screeching trains. For an instant it got rather loud as a train blew its whistle on the opposite side of the platform. You could barely make out Twilight instructing you to follow her over all the ruckus. It was just like being in a shopping mall at rush hour, plus trains. The Canterlot train station looked a lot different than the one in Ponyville. For one thing it was bigger, it reminded you more of a central station like you would expect them to look back home, only scaled down a notch. Several platforms with tracks on either side were covered with ponies waiting for their transportation. The station was pretty much out in the open as the only thing separating it from the city were shops that seemed to sell things from all corners of Equestria. One looked to be selling cherries. Another close to it sold porcelain sets of cups and plates. Rather, the place was more like a medieval dock than a train station. Like it was a place where out of towners could come and make their wares known to the capital. Twilight trotted in the direction of a tall tower that could be seen rising up above the other buildings. As you were shadowing her through the masses, you noticed the stares of ponies that followed you. You did the only thing you could do, which was to smile and nod at the most intensive on-lookers. You didn’t take it as offensive; if a pony was walking through a crowd back home, he would probably get bombarded by stares too. After the density of ponies was thinning out, you began to admire the surroundings. Looking up at the white tower you started to feel excited about meeting Celestia, and perhaps even Luna. But the peak of excitement occurred when you heard something familiar approaching behind you through the crowd. “Twilight, dear. Wait up!” You could smell the perfume before you had fully turned around, which only strengthened your suspicions. Twilight had also heard, and turned to meet her glamorous friend. “Rarity? Hey!” She traced back to meet Rarity half way, and they embraced eachother with a hug. “It’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?” said Twilight cheerfully. You stood behind her admiring the white unicorn, your eyes ending up on her large pink hat. It was round with a purple ribbon tied around the base of the crown and in the wide rim on the left rested a pair of large white roses. “I was here waiting for you, of course.” She looked over at you. “And this must be our guest that I've heard about. Pleasure to meet you.” You decided to try and impress her. “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rarity,” you said as you bowed graciously. “Oh my, humans are certainly well mannered, aren't they.” She seemed pleased and looked up at you with dazzling eyes. “But I left the ‘Miss’ behind almost six months ago. It’s ‘Madame’ nowadays.” she said while casually waving a hoof. “Well, I guess a late congratulation is in order then.” You gave her another short bow. “Why, thank you dear.” She smiled and turned her head back to Twilight. “I like him. I don’t think there will be any problem with letting you two stay with me.” Twilight looked mildly confused hearing what she said. “Not that I mind, but how did it end up with us staying at your place? I sort of assumed that...” “Oh, how rude of me,” Rarity interrupted her. “Celestia asked me if I would’ve liked to house you while you were staying. She also told me which train you would be arriving with, but when the train arrived I couldn’t spot you anywhere and I thought you might have missed it. I was just about leaving when I saw you walking out at the other end of the platform.” “Well that was thoughtful of her, I was wondering how I was going to spend some time with you while researching. This makes everything a whole lot simpler.” Twilight smiled and nodded in understanding. “And it’s good to see someone else that are always trying to look their best.” She said while gesturing to your ‘finely’ dressed self. She analyzed your clothes for a moment with experienced eyes. ”That doesn’t look very fitting for the season, don’t you think? They don’t look very warm.” she gave your outfit a last glance before continuing. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to make you some new garments, free of charge of course.” The element of generosity strikes. Clothes made by Rarity herself? The thought alone gave you a tingling feeling. “It would be an honor to wear the work of an artist,” you said with the intent of flattering her, which seemed to work very well, as she looked pleased with the answer. “I should also mention that Celestia said that you could see her after her meeting with the city council. She should still be in there now, so let’s talk more back at my residence, shall we?” she said while motioning you and Twilight to walk with her. She went in a direction that led you ninety degrees away from the white tower. Again you were surprised by the size of the place. On TV, Canterlot had seemed like it consisted of only a compact castle, but in reality it looked more like a medieval city. And there were ponies everywhere. Too many to count. It was a lot to take in, and caring about the ponies giving you stares was getting tiring. You decided to not worry about them. All you thought about were things that mattered. Like how the meeting with Celestia would go. Whether you would learn anything new about how and why you were here, or maybe how to get back. Although right now, returning home wasn’t on a high priority. Spending some time and explore Equestria seemed a lot more attractive than going home. At least during whatever happened next, you would be wearing fancy, Rarity-tailored clothes.
