From the Journal of Leon the Dragon

"Why don't you try asking the tree?"

I would like to note here that the deer-in-headlights expression on someone with a pony face is completely hilarious, and if I hadn’t been trying so hard to figure out why they looked confused I would have been rolling on the floor with laughter. Instead I simply asked, "What's wrong?"

Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up. "Yeah well, maybe it's different in the world you're from," she started in a tone full of incredulous sarcasm. "But around here, trees aren't known for talking too much." Crossing her arms under her chest while she struck a snide pose had the unfortunate effect of distracting me once again. Seriously, even Rainbow Dash has a nice set, although hers were obviously the smallest out of the group.

'Well I guess that makes sense since she's the most athletic one.' But dragging my mind away from mammaries let me notice all of them were looking to me for an explanation. And as any full grown male would, I was feeling a mite awkward about this now. Telling people about trees that talk would be really stupid in my world. Now in a world inhabited by magic using anthropomorphic ponies... it's still stupid. Like I said, awkward.

And now I had Rainbow AND Rarity looking almost angry at me for taking so long to reply. "Um... what?" I know, I'm so smooth. "Uh, no... No, trees don't talk where I'm from." Turning around once again, I looked up into the glowing and sparkling foliage, my face full of disbelief. "But this one talked to me." I found myself starting to reach out to it like I was trying to grab hold of that feeling of connection again. "It's never done that for any of you?"

I heard a soft voice mumble something and went to turn around again only to find myself staring up into the concerned faces of Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack. And the fact that I was obviously looking UP seemed strange, until I realized I was lying on my back on the ground, with no memory of how I got there. Although I did have a rather nasty and persistent headache that seemed to be centered somewhere on the left side of my head. The first question that came to my mind escaped through my mouth.

“Why… am I on the ground?”

Twilight leaned in a little closer, looking intently at each of my eyes in turn. “You suddenly fell over. I think you passed out. Are you feeling okay?” I was thinking to myself, really?! I passed out in front of these girls? No way! I mean, sure, I wasn’t feeling too good. And I WAS just moved to an entirely different world… actually, thinking back, I probably did that twice today (or whenever it was, I didn’t know)... and yeah, I’d been up for over 24 hours by now, I thought…. but, passing out?

“Yeah, and you totally weirded us out when your eyes rolled up into the back of your head,” Rainbow added.

At this point my stomach decided to remind me that I hadn’t eaten anything in a long time either. I noticed most of the girls suddenly raising a hand to their lips and trying to stifle their giggling, some doing a better job than others. Of course, Pinkie wasn’t even trying. I rolled my eyes and sighed, internally admitting defeat. “Actually, guys… gir-... whatever. Yeah. I mean, no. I’m not feeling so good. I’m tired, and hungry, and still trying not to freak out over getting … sent… transported?… warped?... Er, getting here.”

With that, the girls broke into a quick discussion that ended with them deciding to take me back to Ponyville with them, especially as it was getting dark and they wanted to get out of the Everfree Forest. Walking back to town with them, I mostly kept quiet and concentrated on not falling down again, which seemed to be getting harder to do every minute. The backdrop of the forest wasn’t helping my concentration any, either. Even in the cartoon, they seemed to make the Everfree Forest a pretty scary looking place, but this didn’t even compare. This forest was the stuff of nightmares. The trail we were following seemed faint and was continually coming upon sections that made it difficult to tell where the next part was. I’m sure if I wasn’t with these girls I would have become lost in under an hour. The noises coming from deeper in were unnerving, and most of them couldn’t be readily categorized into any kind of sound I’d heard before, other than from some fantasy movies. The plants were almost worse, because even here on a “safe” trail I was noticing all kinds of things that just looked wrong.

We passed a group of tree trunks that looked like they had disfigured faces in them. Just as I realized I might actually know this place from the show, Pinkie jumped out in front of one while making a silly face and sticking her tongue out at it. This caused the rest of the girls to let out a shared chuckle and caused me to believe it really must be the place from the chase of Nightmare Moon.

As we continued I found myself stumbling more often, and my vision was getting to be distinctly blurry… when it wasn’t outright double-vision. After a trip finally sent me to the ground (Hey! That vine -did- jump out at me! The girls confirmed it for me later,) I was forced to accept the help and support of Applejack, with Rainbow Dash sometimes helping as well. I honestly was starting to feel pretty low. I was tired, hungry, lost, somehow in an entirely different and unbelievable universe, and in a super spooky forest, parts of which actually -were- out to get me. Not to mention the near-death experience that seems to have set this whole thing off. Now I was full grown man, a SSgt in the US Air Force… who needed to be carried along by a couple girls. Yeah, it had me wondering a bit about my self-worth. In fact, I was so caught up in my moody thoughts that I didn’t notice when we came out of the forest and only realized what was happening again when Twilight opened the door to her tree… house… thing. ‘Magic ponies,’ I reminded myself as my brain tried to get weirded out all over again from actually seeing a house made from a living tree.

So much of my memory from that point is blurry. I remember finding myself in what appeared to be the guest room, of having several of the girls asking what was wrong, asking how they could help. I kept trying to tell them that I would be okay, but I wasn’t fooling them or myself. But I did manage to insist that I would be better if I could get some sleep, much to Twilight’s obvious frustration. Poor girl. I realized that she was fit to burst with questions, no surprise since that’s exactly how she was in the show, but there was no way I could give out coherent answers by that point. So finally I was left to rest after assuring them that I would call out if I needed anything. As soon as I laid on the bed, I blacked out.

I don’t know how long I slept, but I remember dreaming about the things the tree had ‘said’ to me. When I finally woke up everything felt … fuzzy. My thoughts were hazy and slow, my eyes blurry, and all over my skin there was a tingling sensation somewhat like when your foot is asleep. Rolling over, I carefully sat up on the bed and tried to take stock of things. The wooden walls, shelves of books, and large bed all confirmed that I hadn’t simply dreamed of being moved to a different world.

I hung my head as I once again tried to wrap my brain around what had happened to me. Opening my eyes, I looked down at my lap and listened to the train-wreck of my thoughts. I heard a voice call out for Twilight, and it took me a second to realize it was my own.

“Yes? What is it?” I heard Twilight respond through the door.

“...Remember how I said the Tree of Harmony talked to me?” I asked.

“...yes?”

I slowly stood up and started moving towards the door, staring at the ends of my arms all the while. “I remember something that didn’t make sense to me before. It basically told me that I was welcome here, and that I was needed for … something. But it also said… not as I am. Like, not in this form, or something. And I think I figured out what it meant, now. I can’t stay here as a human.”

I could hear Twilight’s footsteps (hoofsteps?) reach the other side of my door, but she didn’t open it. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean that my body is being changed. I’m transforming into something else.”

As I reached for the doorknob, I heard Twilight’s gasp of surprise. “What…. What are you turning into, then?”

“Well I’ll tell you what it fucking -isn’t!-” I replied as I pulled the door open. Seeing her standing there with confusion and a touch of fear on her face, I held up my hand, showing her the large claws that had replaced my fingers. “Not a pony.”