Rebirth

When I wake up, I feel terribly nauseous, like I’m about to throw up. My head is spinning like I just got drunk or fought a boxer. Knowing me, either is likely. I rub my head and sit up slowly. Despite my careful speed, a second wave of nausea hits me. It leaves just as fast as it had arrived.

The room I’m in is unfamiliar at first. The memory of what happened comes to my mind. I'm in that pony's home. What was her name again? Fluttershy? Yeah, that's it.

I want to blame my nausea on Epona. She’s likely the cause. I can’t think of any other source of nausea. Maybe something got to me in the forest. Who know what kinds of shit happens in those places?

Since there's this much nausea, I'll probably throw up once I move off the sofa. Well, why bother waiting? Fluttershy did show me the location of the bathroom during that quick tour yesterday. Unfortunately, the bathroom’s up the stairs.

I quickly get off the sofa and sprint up the stairs. My stomach feels like I just got off a rollercoaster in the middle of an earthquake. I manage to keep that sickening bile down my throat until I get inside the bathroom. I let it loose inside the toilet. Or, at least what I assume the toilet is. There’s just a dug out hole in the ground with a button next to it. After I release my stomach contents, I push the button.

My guess was correct. It’s a toilet. It flushes and I sit back up. Throwing up itself is painful, but the moments after feel better. At least they do if the burning feeling in the throat’s ignored. I feel a lot better than I did when I woke up, at least.

I look down at my chest and see that some of the vomit managed to get on my shirt. Damn. This is one of my favorites, too. Dream Theater shirts are surprisingly hard to find in Seattle. I don’t expect it to be much easier here in another fucking world. I take off my shirt. Fluttershy's bathroom is a colder than the average room. I wish I had an undershirt with me. I guess I’ll just have to expose my incredibly sexy semi-muscular figure to everybody. I toss the vomit covered shirt into what has to be a nearby laundry basket. It had a pile of clothes in it, so I just assume it was for dirty clothes.

I stand back up and walk out of the room. My stomach growls, likely due to its inhabitants being forcibly kicked out. The obvious solution is to do find Fluttershy's refrigerator. I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen. She doesn't have one, but there's a note on her couch. I read it.

Mark,
I went out to get some medicine for your headache. I might be out for about an hour or two. There’s some food in the refrigerator if you get hungry. Feel free to take anything you want. I’m sorry if there isn’t something you want in there.
Fluttershy

I smile at her note. She’s nicer than most people I knew back on earth, and I haven’t even known her for a day.

Just after finishing the note, I hear a knock at the door. “Hey Fluttershy! You home? I’ve got some cool stuff to show you!” A voice comes from the other side. I turn to the sound that ruined my chance to get food. The door opens to reveal a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail. The pegasus notices me and stops her flight in what I assume to be shock. After a second, the pegasus flinches.

“Uh… Hi.” I say with a faint wave of my hand. “Fluttershy’s not home right now.” The pegasus looks up and down at me. If she was a human, I’d think she was admiring the many muscles that I don’t have.

“What are you?” She asks after some time. Unlike Fluttershy, this pegasus seems to be more curious rather than scared. I do sense some fear, though, likely due to me being about twice the mare’s size. I think mare’s the word for female horses. That’s something I need to learn.

Like I did with Fluttershy’s question, I don’t like how the pegasus worded her sentence. I’m expecting to hear that question more often. “I’m human. My name is Mark Cleveland.”

The pegasus is visibly excited at that. Her eyes widening is just one of the many signs. “Whoa! A human? I never thought they existed!” She nearly shouts. Her voice cracks a bit, which puts a smile on my face. “I never thought I’d be able to meet one! I’ve read so much about you!”

“You don’t exactly seem like a reader.” I say out loud on accident. I force myself from putting a hand over my mouth.

The pegasus blushes faintly at that. “Yeah… I just got into reading recently.” She rubs her head and looks at the ground. “I never told you my name! I’m sorry. I’m Rainbow Dash.” She holds out her hoof.

I look at her hoof for an uncomfortably long time. What am I supposed to do? I shake her hoof after quickly deciding. She looks at me strangely. I guess shaking her hoof was the wrong idea. Maybe a fist bump would've been the right move. It makes sense.

Now that I think about it, I think I’ve heard this pegasus’ name somewhere before. Damn. This is going to bother me. “You have a cool name. I assume I’ll see the Dash part of it coming up later?”

Rainbow Dash puts a toothy grin on her face. “Definitely. I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria!” Her enthusiasm puts a smile on my face. I guess Equestria is the country I'm in, if no the world. If she really is the fastest flyer in the world, I’d pay to see that.

“I hope you’ve got proof of that. I’d like to see you fly sometime.” I say with a smile.

“Why not now?” She says and bolts out the door. A rainbow trail follows her. She’s apparently fast enough to do that. I follow her, but not nearly fast enough to stay on her tail. It’s probably a good thing that I’m slower than her. I don't want to throw up again. Rainbow Dash speeds across Fluttershy’s lawn and into the sky. She has a steep takeoff. I lose track of her in the sky within ten seconds.

I search for her in the sky. Where the hell did she go? A loud sound, like an explosion, bounces off the nearby trees. A massive circle with a rainbow pattern erupts in the middle of the sky. A rainbow moves out of the circular rainbow and shoots across the sky. It makes a sudden 90 degree turn towards me. I don’t even get a chance to instinctively raise my arms before it strikes the ground in front of me.

Rainbow Dash appears at my feet. With just a glance at her face, I can tell she’s excited. “Woo! Yeah! I haven’t done a Sonic Rainboom in a while!” She celebrates her personal victory.

“Damn.” I say. “You’re telling me you did that? I’ve never seen anything like that in my life!”

Rainbow Dash gives me a wide toothy grin. If I was in her shoes (or is it hooves?), I would be smiling too. She laughs and punches her hooves like she's in a boxing match. I wouldn't be surprised if this pony was in a few fights. She calms down a bit and looks back at me. "So, are you new in town?"

I nod. "Yeah. I haven't even been here for a day yet."

"And you've already spent the night with Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash chuckles. "I know she's nice, but she's already got a stallionfriend. I mean, a... what am I even supposed to call you?"

My face starts to heat up. I hold my hands up in a defensive manner. "Whoa, Dashie, we're not-"

Rainbow Dash interrupts me with a laugh and a wave of the hoof. "I know. She's got 'shy' in her name for a reason. Also, don't call me Dashie." I'm not sure if it's the lighting or something else, but it looks like she's about to attack me.

Just to be safe, I keep my hands in the air. "Sorry. Don't like nicknames?"

"Not that one. It can only come from Pinkie." She sighs and blows a stray hair out of her face. My hands return to my sides. "Speaking of which, since you're new, I should show you to her."

“Let me write a note to Fluttershy first.” I say to Rainbow Dash. Fortunately, I still have my pen with me. Rainbow Dash notices the pen and asks what it is. I describe it and she mentions that they have those old fashioned quills. I grab a piece of paper from Fluttershy’s fridge and prepare the note.

Fluttershy
I met Rainbow Dash. Going to meet Pinkie Pie. I'll be back in a bit. See you soon.
Mark

Rainbow flies off towards where I assume Ponyville to be. I follow her there.

We arrive to the town after some time. There's other ponies in the town. All of them stare at me like I'm in a freak show. I don't blame them. I'd be surprised if I saw somebody walking a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. I mean, if it was back on earth. They would be looking at Rainbow. I’m saying that--Ah, whatever.

We bump into a pony. The first thing I notice about this one is the color of the coat, which is easily just as pink as Pepto Bismol. Her puffy mane is a darker shade. Before we even get a chance to say hi to her, she runs off. Knowing my size (I’m about twice as tall as the pony that ran off, along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy), I probably scared her off.

Rainbow Dash looks at me. “Expect a party for you later today.” She says with a toothy grin. I guess I didn’t scare the pony off, then.