༺W 11/18/2015 12:00 AM ࿇ Just outside Ponyville: Fluttershy's Cottage༻

As Fluttershy and David settled down and exchanged many questions and various pieces of information. David soon looked at his watch and noticed that it was 12:35 a.m. He needed to get back to his house and get some sleep. "I've had a nice time talking with you, Fluttershy, but I really need to get going. I have work to do in my home town tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep." he said.

"It was a pleasure getting to know the man from beyond the yellow ring." this drew out a chuckle from David.

"I will come back tomorrow after work, assuming the portal is still here." and with that, David left the cottage and started walking back to the forest. At first, the portal's ring was not noticeable. He had to strain his eyes to find it. Once he did, he walked straight toward it. The outline grew more prominent and soon he saw the inside of the steel building that was a bronycon earlier. The moon was high in the sky. hen he heard a rumble. Oh yeah, there is still a storm on the other side. I forgot all about it. he thought to himself.

There was another sound, a hissing sound. Oh come on, not rain also. Raindrops pounded the steel building as David exited the portal. Feeling the slight tingling sensation again as he stepped through. He looked around the building, seeing hay pieces laying on the stage pallets. The sound of thunder shook him back to business. I gotta get home and get some sleep, what if I am already asleep? This has got to be a dream of some kind. What if i had died and go... don't be silly. There has to be some logical explanation for all of this.

Running from the steel building because he had no umbrella or raincoat on, his pony figurine nestled in his pocket. He fumbled to get his keys out of his pocket. Finally, he pushed the unlock button and practically jumped into the car. With legs now inside, he closed the door, started it up, and was headed on his 10 mile journey home. Once there, the rain had stopped, and he was on his way to bed. He checked the time again - 12:51 a.m.

༺࿇༻

Fluttershy lied in her bed, wondering if she should tell the others about the portal, or wait it out until somepony else finds the portal. If it remained where it was, it was only a matter of time before somepony spotted it. Finally she relaxed and looked at the clock- 12:42 a.m. With that, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

She woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. Looking at the clock, it was 8:30 a.m. The sun was already partway above the horizon, showering Ponyville with its brilliance. She got out of her bed and headed downstairs. She looked through the peephole to see Twilight Sparkle standing there. Fluttershy opened the door and said "Hello Twilight, what brings you over to my house this morning?"

"Just checking up on my dear friend, I saw a bright flash of lightning hit a tree over there, and I started to worry about you because it was so close to your cottage. Are you alright?"

"Yes, i'm fine, wanna stay for breakfast?" responded Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry, but I have a lot of studying to do. I only allotted enough time to check up on you, have a good day, Fluttershy" and she was off just as quickly as she came. Fluttershy waited until Twilight was out of sight, then she headed down toward the area where the portal was. Sure enough, she finally found it, in the same spot it was last night. On the other side, was dark like the inside of a building. She stared at the open hole for a few moments, noticing the circle of light on the wooden pallet that was like a stage. This light came from Equestria, and the portal acted as a window to let the sunlight through. Surely it was the only light in the big building. She couldn't work up the courage to walk through the portal again, so she went back to her cottage to make breakfast for the many animals she took care for.

༺࿇༻

The alarm rang 6:00 a.m. for David. He got up from his bed, took a shower, and made himself some oatmeal for breakfast. He sipped on a cup of coffee and waited for the moment that he would have to leave for work. Finally it came time for him to head to his car. 6:54 a.m. This was plenty of time to drive across town to the place where he worked, which happened to be McDonalds. David lived in the town of Maryville, which was located around 50 miles north of St.Joseph.

It was a rather ordinary day at work today, he kept quiet about the whole portal thing, which he was still thinking it was a dream. He worked on the grill, getting hamburger patties almost spot on perfection. Hours passed, and then lunch break came. Then more patty flipping, and other small tasks while they were cooking. Finally it was 5:00 p.m. and time for him to head home. But he decided to head back to the bronycon building.

The cyan car rolled up to the huge steel building. And David stepped out of the car. should I take anything? If I do, should I show them to Fluttershy? Should I introduce myself to the rest of Ponyville, or keep it between Fluttershy and I for now? Should I even be coming back anyways? and some other questions spun around in David's head. The sun was close to the horizon by now. It's surprising that it the temp hasn't started dropping yet this year. It's still warm enough to wear summer clothes.

He decided to only bring his phone, car keys, and a pack of crackers in case he gets hungry. He walked out of the car and into the steel building. He saw that the portal was still where it was yesterday. Either it wasn't a dream or I am still in this dream. I don't know anymore. he thought as his eyes locked on to the yellow ringed portal. In contrast with the dark room, the sunlight from the portal lit up basically the entire stage.

He walked through the portal into the bright, colorful world. He saw Fluttershy's cottage and the questions rose up again. Am I going to remain hidden, or should I introduce myself to Ponyville? If I was stuck here, I wouldn't have a choice, but if I do introduce myself to Ponyville, will I have to tell them how I came? If I said there was a portal, they'd surely follow me to it out of curiosity. Did Fluttershy tell any other ponies yet? I'll ask her. with that, he walked up to Fluttershy's cottage again. He checked his watch on his way up. 5:21 a.m.

Before he knocked, he saw a note on the door. This note was written in some type of script that he couldn't understand. He decided that it was a note saying that she was out running errands or something and was going to return in an hour or two. Now what? wait for Fluttershy to return? I don't have THAT much patience. Should I go looking for her?

He sat down on a rock that was placed by the door for decoration. And he thought of different scenarios. Some involved ponies going to Earth, some involved other humans arriving at Equestria. Some involved him getting caught in lies and loosing any friends he may get. He slowly boiled down to one fact. No matter how long he could lie about the portal, someone, or somepony would eventually find it. He couldn't keep this secret forever. But he couldn't rush it either. Imagine all those ponies crowding through the portal and popping up in the... THAT'S IT! I would have to find a way to hide the portal.

With the sudden thought, he ran back to the portal. He couldn't move the portal. So what would he do? He looked around, behind the portal was the forest. He went into the forest a little ways and started collecting long, large branches. He emerged from the forest and then realized he just wasted time. He couldn't surround the portal with branches, that would attract more attention. The edge of the forest was definitely too far for a collection of branches and trees to look normal. He finally gave up and walked back up to Fluttershy's cottage.

Before his fist reached the door, he stopped cold. There was talking going on in the cottage. He couldn't hear what they were saying, so he put his ear up to the door. muffled sounds came from inside. "Is the party preparations for our newcomer ready?" asked a voice that sounded like Fluttershy's.

"It will be the best party ever. He deserves it because he's so special." That must be Pinkie Pie.

"You should get going now, he could be coming any moment." said Fluttershy.

Oh shute, I better hide before Pinkie fi... dang too late The door opened and there was Pinkie Pie. She gasped.

"What are you doing here?" asked David.

"Nothing." she spat out quickly, then continued "Just talking to my super duper bestest friend Fluttershy." and let out a wide grin.

"Did Fluttershy tell you about me already?" asked David.

"Everypony in Ponyville knows about you already. You are the human from another world." Pinkie said as she hopped up and down.

Oh shute, everyone here knows about me already, I hope they don't know about the portal yet.

After a moment of silence, Pinkie Pie hopped down the road towards Ponyville. "Does anyone know about the portal yet?" I glared at Fluttershy.

"I haven't told anypony about that yet, it would be a disaster if they found out." replied Fluttershy in a calm, relaxed voice.

"You don't have to tell me that again, so what DID you tell them?"

"I said that you were stranded here and lived deep within the Everfree Forest. And I told them that you were fine there and didn't need any help." she responded.

They both noticed it getting darker outside. The sun was now going below the horizon. 7:00 already? he thought as he looked at his watch. He was getting hungry so he pulled out his pack of crackers. As he ate them, Fluttershy looked at them with a confused face. Like she had never seen crackers before. Unfortunately, the crackers didn't fill him up. Fluttershy offered him some type of salad, but David wasn't a salad type of guy. So David decided to head back home.

༺࿇༻

The Chicken Pot Pie filled David up tho. He sat on his couch and was surfing the TV stations. He reached one that had an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on it. More specifically one of the newer episodes in Season 5, More specifically Episode 24. It was a well designed episode, like all the others Whoa, that isn't right He noticed at the end of the episode, there was a storm. And the camera was above Fluttershy's cottage. Then a lightning bolt struck a tree. The strange part was that a faint, barely visible yellow ring remained in one of the cartoon trees. Was I affecting the actual show? Then the end credits started to roll. I have got to be going crazy now.

༺࿇༻

Author's Note

Here's Day One of The Etheral Fissure. I hope you enjoyed this second chapter.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you