Rebirth

I don't wake up until the sun invades my eyes. Before actually getting up, I roll over and notice a note with familiar handwriting. Fluttershy's. How can a creature without any fingers write? I kind of understand how a pegasus or alicorn could, because of the magic. Maybe they use their mouths? I need to remind myself to not think about stuff like that.

Mark,
When you didn't come for a while, I was a little scared. It took me time to think that you might have gotten a new home or rented a room. You would have told me though, right? I was glad to see that you were here. I wish I was awake when you came back. I fell asleep while reading one of my favorite books. Thanks for putting that blanket over me, by the way.

Ah, so she was awake when I did that. If that was back on earth and I did the same to Dana, she'd probably accuse me of hitting on her. I smile at the memory of her. The smile quickly fades to a frown, knowing that I'd never see her again. I hope she's doing fine without me. I push the thought away and get back to the letter.

Come on down when you're ready, if you want to. I'll have breakfast made. I'll remake it if you wake up at a different time than I expect.
Fluttershy

At the end of the signature, there's a blacked out circular shape. It looks like she tried to erase the figure, but couldn't and just scribbled over it. If I got this letter when I was in high school, I'd think it was a heart. Another smile comes to my face, but this one is quickly replaced with a frown. I wouldn't be able to go to school again, at least not on Earth.

The frown fades from my face. It's not like I was planning on going to college or anything.

I rub my chin, feeling the stubble begin to take the form of a small beard. I'd have to shave or else I'd look like a biker within a couple of days. I make a mental note of asking about if there are razors here. There was something else I was going to ask about, but I can' remember what it was going to be.

I move downstairs and see Fluttershy. "Hi, Mark." She says softly.

"Hi, Fluttershy." I say. "I got your note. Didn't know you were up when I put the blanket over you." She blushes a bit. She seems to do that a lot.

Fluttershy hides a bit behind her mane. Damn, she’s cute. Cute like how a cat is. "Oh, yes I was. I meant to talk to you, but you seemed to be too tired."

"I was tired, but not enough to not talk." I say. I sit down at the table. The pegasus places a plate with delicious-looking food on it. It has an amazing scent to it. I could probably live off just the smell of this dish.

She notices me not eating. "Not hungry?"

"I’m hungry. This just looks too good to eat." I say. Eating this would be like eating a da Vinci painting. Fluttershy blushes again and giggles. I reluctantly poke at it with the fork she gave me. I put some of the food into my mouth. Mere words cannot express just how awesome it is. "Damn, Fluttershy. This is easily the best food I’ve had in my life. Maybe in a few lifetimes.” I finish the plate within two minutes.

Fluttershy smiles and looks proud of herself. “Thank you, Mark. The other ponies don’t exactly… think that.” She rubs her foreleg.

“I think you could sell this.”

She blushes at that. “I’m not even the best cook around here.” Fluttershy says and tries to hide behind her mane. “That honor would have to go to Pinkie or Applejack, I think.”

“If you’re not the best cook, I’d love to see who is. Both of the girls you mentioned seem nice.”

“Mares.” Fluttershy corrects me after a short hesitation. Using this new form of vocabulary is going to be tough to get used to. “W-We also say ‘everypony’ instead of ‘everybody...’”

“So I have to get used to replacing ‘body’ with ‘pony?’” I ask. That’s what I got out of what this shy pegasus I’m talking to.

“Y-You don’t have to…”

“Then it’s more of an accent sort of thing?”

Fluttershy thinks about that for a second. “I guess so.”

“I’ll still try to get used to using ‘pony’ instead of ‘body’. You might have to help remind me to do that.”

“I-I’ll do my best.”

My stomach growls loudly. “Is it too late for breakfast?”

She shakes her head slightly. “No, it’s not.”

We have breakfast shortly after. This food is just as good as the last dish Fluttershy made.

A few minutes after digesting what was pretty much the Mona Lisa of foods, Fluttershy and I go for a walk through Ponyville. The residents of the little town (compared to Seattle, at least) are still trying to get used to me. Most of them are just avoiding me altogether. It makes sense, seeing as how I’m about twice their heights, I suddenly appeared without warning, and I’ve only been here for a few days.

Some time after the walk started, a gray pegasus with a blonde mane awkwardly flies toward us. She stops with a landing that’s just as awkward as her flight. I’m surprised this mare even landed successfully. She stands up and I can tell her balance is absolutely terrible. With a close look, I see that her eyes are gold colored. The most noticeable thing about her eyes is the fact that it’s the worst case of wall-eyedness I’ve ever seen in my life. Both this one and the one on Earth.

The wall-eyed mare pulls out an envelope from her saddlebag. She looks at it for a few seconds. “Letter for a Max Cloverland, I think.”

“Mark Cleveland.” I correct her. “Thanks for the letter. What’s your name? I need to know who I just thanked.”

The mare smiles at me. Her eyes continue to point in different directions. “My friends call me Derpy Hooves.” With those eyes, I should have seen something like that coming.

She hands me the envelope. “Thank you, Derpy Hooves.” With a cute smile, Derpy flies off somewhere else. After a few second, she turns around and continues to fly.

Fluttershy walks up to me. “A letter already?”

“I guess so. She’s the second pony I’ve met so far to know my name.” Things like that never happened to me on Earth. It’s pretty relieving, but sort of creepy at the same time.

“Who’s it from?” She sounds more curious than I do.

I look at the envelope. “This doesn’t say.” This certainly isn’t the USPS. They’d be all over this just because it doesn’t have any stamps.

After chuckling out loud at my own mental joke, and a strange look from Fluttershy, I open up the envelope to reveal a folded up piece of paper. The outside of the letter doesn’t say who it’s from, but it does have a fancy ornate symbol of something resembling an alicorn.

I open up the letter and read it out loud.

Dear Mark Cleveland of Ponyville

There have been rumors among Canterlot civilians that what was once believed to be a mythical creature, a human, is alive and well. Recently, these rumors were confirmed as factual. Without a doubt, the entire planet knows of your existence.

I know without having to meet you that you wish to know who I am and why I am contacting you. If you would journey to Canterlot, that would be most excellent. I wish to keep this letter brief and to remain from questioning your arrival to Equestria via letter, as others may be able to read this. Please, come to the castle whenever convenient and find me, preferably by yourself.

Princess Luna of Canterlot

The brief silence feels like hours. “Y-Y-You can’t just ignore a l-letter from a Princess…” Fluttershy says, breaking the silence.

My response comes after a slight hesitation. “Who’s Princess Luna?”

The timid mare to my side gives a quick explanation of the Princess. “You have to go talk to her, Mark.”

“I guess I do.” I say. “Where’s Canterlot?” Fluttershy points her hoof at a distant mountain. After a second, I notice a massive city built into the side of the mountain. I guess it’s Canterlot.

“Trains go there often.” Fluttershy says. I notice that her voice is quieter than normal. If I had to guess, she’s scared for me. From the explanation she gave me, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m about to talk to a creature that’s practically a goddess that just spent a thousand years in complete isolation from any creature, living or dead. Even though she sounds nice enough from the letter, I don’t think this is going to end well for me. Usually, my gut feeling is right. I hope it’s wrong this time.

Fluttershy senses my discomfort. Either that, or I’m just making it blatantly obvious. “Can you come to Canterlot with me?” Her eyes widen. “The other Elements can come with us, if you want.”

She lets out a sigh of relief. “T-That would be okay.”

“Alright. It would also give me a nice chance to meet all of them.”

A few hours later, Fluttershy and I arrive at the train station. Five other ponies are there waiting for us. I recognize four of them as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash (who doesn’t appear to have my iPod at the moment), Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. I notice a small purple lizard-like creature hiding behind Twilight. I can tell it’s scared, so I remind myself to not make any sudden movements.

I don’t recognize the other pony. She’s a white unicorn with a very fancy purple mane.

On the unicorn’s flank is a picture of three diamonds. I remember seeing different pictures on pretty much every other pony I’ve seen so far, except for a few younger ponies. I make a mental note to ask about the pictures later. They’re probably tattoos or something.

“Oh, you must be Mark Cleveland!” The white unicorn says to me when I get to the group. “You are a human, correct?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.” I say. “I guess you have the advantage of knowing me, but I don’t know you. What’s your name?”

She looks somewhat disappointed. “My name is Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique and Element of Generosity.”

“What’s the Carousel Boutique?”

She looks even more disappointed. Hey, don’t blame me. Blame the fact that this is my second day here. “Carousel Boutique is, besides my home, my area of work. It is where I make clothes for ponies.”

“I’ll have to stop by some time. I don’t have a lot of clothes.” I say.

“Why would you need any?” She asks bluntly. I don’t need a mirror to know there’s a blush on my face. “What?”

Humans wear clothes a lot more than ponies do, I guess. “Back on Earth, pretty much everywhere on it, it’s against the law to not wear clothes. It’s a social taboo to not wear anything in almost every culture. Part of it is because we don’t have any coats like ponies do. At least, not in most places on the body.”

“Yo, train’s coming.” Rainbow Dash interrupts the conversation. As if on cue, I hear a train whistle.

The train arrives. It’s one of those old fashioned trains, like something out of the Old West. I guess it makes sense, seeing as how the technology in Equestria is pretty limited compared to modern Earth.

I follow the six ponies onto the train. It’s mostly empty, save for one pony. He just brushes past me and doesn’t seem to notice or care about me. His reaction, or lack thereof, is pretty surprising and almost insulting. Part of me doubts he’s used to seeing creatures twice his height.

The train ride is long. It’s only about an hour long, but it feels like six hours to me. Probably because I feel like I’m on my way to my death. I’m about to speak to a practical goddess that can easily kill me with just a look. It feels like I’m about to talk to Darth Vader or Darth Sidious.

The only good thing about the trip is that I get to talk to my newest friends. My only friends, actually. I get to know them a bit more. Applejack, somewhat unsurprisingly, works at a farm. Fluttershy works with animals, which I didn’t see happen for some reason. Pinkie works at a restaurant or something like that. I can barely understand her. Fortunately, I had a brief phase of being into speed metal, so that helped me understand her. Only a bit, though. As I’ve said before, she puts DragonForce to shame.

Like I said, the train ride feels six times longer than it actually is. I’ve had to make long drives, which truthfully doesn’t really help. Of course, when making those trips, I never had to meet a goddess that may or may not want to kill me in the most painful way imaginable. Just some family business.

The train comes to a grinding halt, which sends a shiver down my spine. I manage to hide it well enough that my equine companions don’t notice. Either that, or I’m being painfully obvious and they do but don’t want to offend me or something. I’m going to assume it’s the former.

Twilight points me to the castle, which I could see from even Fluttershy’s house. “We’ll be at Donut Joe’s once you’re done.” Twilight says. The girls head inside a small cafe.

I walk up to the gates of the castle. The two guards at the front cross their spears. It makes me jump a bit, but I regain my composure. “My name is Mark Cleveland.” I say. “Princess Luna wanted to see me.” I’ve never exactly been in a situation like this, so I don’t know what to say.

I guess I was right, though. The guards uncross their spears, but don’t say anything. They’re like the British Royal Guards.

As soon as I enter the castle, a chill goes down my spine. It’s not because there’s a draft. “I’m going to die in here…” As much as I hate to say it, that sentence came from me.