From what I gathered, I was in a quaint little town that beheld a third-worldesque type of architecture. It was an unusual place, but as I continued to look, I saw signs of of advancement similar to my world's technology, but it seemed oddly placed, like this town didn't know what period it was in. I saw a camera flash, which further emphasized this confusion.

Twilight spoke again, refocusing my attention on her: "Philip...an interesting name to say the least. It's certainly not a pony name. Then again you aren't a pony, but I believe I have seen your kind before. Though, they didn't look exactly like you."

"Pony?," I thought. "Well they aren't exactly earth horses. Hmm, I wonder if this may be an actual species."

The blonde southern pony spoke again, this time to Twilight: "Twi, do you think he could be...?" She seemed almost hesitant to finish the sentence, as if she was still somewhat unsure on how to respond to me being here.

Twilight responded, without giving a specific answer: "Yes, but...it's just so odd. I mean, he bears a very close resemblance to them, but if he had come through the portal..." She trailed off in thought, trying to figure out what was going on before she spoke to me again. "Philip, do you know how you got here or where you came from?"

An unpleasant image flashed before my eyes at this question. I grimaced, trying to block it out of my mind, but not being wholly successful in doing so. That awful cackling laugh, that devilish face, that maniacal voice, and those piercing red eyes will forever haunt my memories.

"Hey, Philip. Are you ok? You look like you're in a lot of pain," Twilight said with worry in her voice.

Her voice woke me up from reliving my nightmare and I remembered her question. "Oh, yeah I'm fine," I said flatly. I paused, rubbing my chin, trying to find an answer to her questions. I was unable to remember how I arrived in this world, but I was able to answer the other question. "I'm not quite sure how I got here. Honestly, I have no memory of that whatsoever. As to where I came from, well, do you want the long version or the short version?

Twlight's eyes sparked up at this. She looked oddly intrigued, almost too intrigued. "Oh, I would love to hear the long version!"

The cyan horse, or "pony" as they called themselves let out a groan at this. "Ah. come on! I don't have time to sit through a history lesson. I'm sure its boring anyway." She crossed her hooves and tossed up her mane at this last remark as she was hovering above the ground.

I wasn't exactly offended by this, even though I was a sort of a history buff myself. It just made me wonder why she was so impatient. I am seemingly a new species after all. What isn't there to be interested about?

The white pony scolded the cyan one. "How dare you be so rude to this poor creature! I'm sure he's been through a lot and insulting his history isn't making it any better!"

"You're one to talk," the blonde pony muttered sarcastically.

"What was that?," the white pony angrily and sharply replied, placing her face directly in front of the blonde one's in a threatening manner. I sensed things were about to get heated.

The blonde pony assumed the same stance and was about to give her retort when the cyan one spoke up with a smirk on her face. "She said that you're one to talk."

The white pony looked past the blonde one with an annoyed look on her face. "I don't remember you being a part of this conversation. Now, do us a favor and keep to your own business." She finished with a "hmph" and a toss of her mane as she resumed glaring at the blonde pony.

The cyan pony looked greatly peeved once she heard this and readied herself to give an angry reply. "Hey, I don't need you telling me whose business I can be in and whose I can't! I am your friend, by the way. Plus, I wouldn't be talking, Miss Generous-with-gossip!" She put strong emphasis on "generous." The blonde pony tried, but failed to suppress a snicker.

The white pony froze and slowly turned aside from the blonde one. She raised a single eyebrow and directed a look towards the cyan pegasus I can only describe as "Oh really." She walked over to her and the second she opened her mouth, I knew that the words she was going to utter would be far from kind. "Is that so, Rainbow Dash?"

"So that was the cyan's pony's name," I thought. Odd, but it's just as odd as Twilight Sparkle."

"Well, if we're speaking of those who are one to talk, then I believe we should be talking of you. You have such a large ego that I can't possibly imagine how you fly as fast as you do with that big head of yours. As a matter of a fact, I have not the slightest clue how you even fly at all with it. I'm sure it's difficult trying not to run into things, especially humility." A very satisfied grin spread across the white pony's face after saying that, because it seemed she knew she struck home. There was as well a chorus of "ooh's" throughout the spectating crowd.

Rainbow Dash's face changed from a smirk to a very infuriated look in a matter of milliseconds. I knew if someone didn't stop her now, a rather angry bomb would explode that would probably cause some very irreparable damage. Over the course of this argument, Twilight had been growing increasingly annoyed at her friends and eventually she snapped and shouted at the three who were bickering, fortunately before Rainbow Dash unleashed her fury. The look on her face was much more terrifying than Rainbow Dash's and I knew that it would be best for me to continue to stay out of this. "Everypony, QUIET! Rainbow, you'd better not open your mouth even a centimeter. That goes for you too, Applejack and Rarity."

"Ahh, more names," I thought. "I wonder who they belong too. Hmm, well, the blonde one has an apple on her flank, so I would guess she's Applejack. And the white one has a more regal personality, so I guess she is Rarity."

Twilight was still shouting at three of them as I was identifying ponies. "Look, a new species just entered into our land and from the look of it, he's been through a lot. I don't see how us fighting is making anything better. In fact, it is only making things worse. How would you like it if you arrived in someone else's land and they welcomed you by fighting among themselves like petulant children? Seriously, can't you guys just act a little decent." She let out a sigh as she finished, and not a single pony there said anything during or after her speech. The ones who were fighting looked quite ashamed of their behavior and hung their heads a little. Even the the yellow and pink ponies seemed a little ashamed and there were a surprising number of ponies in the surrounding crowd who bore the same expression.

"Wow. Twilight has quite a commanding personality," I thought. "She silenced everyone."

She turned back to me and looked fairly stressed, yet she had a sort of sheepish smile on her face. "Look, Philip, I'm really sorry for all of this. I really wish I could have given you a better welcome. Heck, I bet I could have done it too." She put a hoof to her face, exasperated. "Ahh, Twilight, you're such an idiot. How did you let things get so out of control?"

I simply looked at her and smiled. This caught her quite off guard and she was even more surprised when I finally stood up. I let out a laugh, which shocked everyone and gave many a confused expression, especially Twilight.

She asked me, "Why are you laughing? I don't see what's so funny about the situation! After the way we acted in front of you, I don't see why you would be so happy." I continued laughing all the harder and eventually others began to join in, starting with the pink pony who was immediately on her side, guffawing and clutching her stomach. Laughter spread throughout the entire crowd, and it even infected the three who were bickering. As the laughing continued, Twilight became ever more confused, but eventually the corners of her mouth began to turn and her face was enveloped in a bright smile. She started laughing as hard as the rest of us, if not more so. She struggled to produce words through her constant chortles. "Why, *guffaw*, are we laughing, *giggle*, anyway?!"

"I don't know," I replied. "*Chortle*, I think the situation, *giggle*, just needed it." It took me a little to compose myself so I could get out the rest of my words. "Plus, you ponies are some of the most ridiculous characters I have ever met. And you remind me so much of my own species."

"Thanks...I think," she said. It took a little while for the rest of everyone to compose themselves, but eventually they did and I think just about everyone forgot the confrontation that recently took place. Just about everyone seemed happy too. Twilight stepped in front of the entire crowd and motioned her friends behind her. They all came and stood beside me. She spoke again. "Alright everypony, we need to figure out what's going on and we need to be alone to do it. So we would be very grateful if you all would return to your daily lives now." There were a series of disappointed sighs, but the crowd eventually dispersed and went back to the tasks they were occupied with before my arrival.

Twilight turned around and looked at me. "Ok Philip, I need you to follow me. There's something I need to figure out and only you can help."

I wondered what she was talking about, but I gave her an ok and asked her where we were going.

"To my castle. There's a book there I need to find that I can hopefully get some answers from."

"Her castle?!," I thought. "I wonder if she's a nobility of sorts. Ha! It's only my first day and I'm being invited to a castle by a possible nobility! And these other ponies as well. I wonder why it's these five girls with Twilight as their seeming leader. And why these five anyway? Why were they the ones at the front with Twilight? I guess they could just be really good friends. Seems like the most logical explanation. And how on earth did I get here anyw - *Discord* - Augh! No! Don't think about that! There are only bad things in those thoughts! Ok, keep focus, Philip. Breathe. That's it. Good. Now, back to safer questions. I wonder what's going on with this town's technology anyway. Maybe they are more reliant on magic? There are unicorns here, after all. So, if it's unicorn's that have the magic, then how do the other species fair? Do they requisition the unicorns for the more difficult tasks, or do they have their own ways of doing things? What of this makes any se-." "OOF!"

I was so lost in thought that I didn't watch where I was going and bumped into Applejack. We both let out a grunt and fell to the ground. The others looked to see what had happened. "Are you guys ok?," Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Applejack replied. She put her hat back on her head, got up, and came over to me. She held out a hoof and asked, "You ok, sugar cube? You really need to watch where you're goin'."

I was rubbing my leg from the fall, but it was only a little sore. "I'm ok." I caught her hoof and she pulled me up with relative ease. "Sorry I bumped into you. I was just lost in thought.

"Think nothin' of it. It was just an accident." She looked at me queerly, as if trying to read my mind. "By the way, what were you thinkin' about that got you so wrapped up in that head of yours?"

This caught me off guard a little. I never really liked it when people tried to pry into my thoughts, though I gave an answer, if not a little drawn back. "Ahh, nothing important. I was just wondering, how do you guys know each other?" They all froze at my question and each looked a little taken aback. Not in a way of disgust, but more as if that was just a highly unusual question for them to hear.

Rainbow Dash was the first to reply. "Wow, you really aren't from here, are you?"

Rarity was the second and she looked and sounded slightly aghast. "Really darling, how could you possibly not know?"

Suddenly, the pink pony was directly in my face. She grabbed my face with her hooves and pulled my forehead against hers. I was undoubtedly not prepared for that. "Are you serious?!," she shouted, almost deafening me. "It's like the most obvious of obvious things!"

She was surrounded by a pink aura and was pulled off me. Twilight had sparked up her horn and walked over to me. She smiled and said, "It's a long story. One I - we - are going to have to tell you at another time. Right now we have to get to the castle."

"Awww!" The pink pony let out a groan and assumed a fighting stance as she started talking. "I wanted to tell him about the time we defeated Nightmare Moon, or the time we stopped Queen Chrysalis, or King Sombra, or Tyrek, or Discord, or-."

"DON'T SAY ITS NAME!," I shouted. I clenched my fists and I shut my eyes as tight as I could, trying desperately to block out every single memory of it from my nightmare But no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I could not shut it out. Its laugh rang in my head. Its eyes pierced my soul and struck terror into my heart. I sat down, pulled my legs close to my chest, and clasped my hands over my ears. I muttered over and over again, "Don't say its name. Don't say its name. Don't say its name," struggling to forget it.

Someone placed a hoof on my shoulder and spoke softly and worriedly to me, driving away my thoughts of it, but not my fear. "Philip, are you ok? Philip, can you hear me? What's going on?" I recognized Twilight's voice and calmed down. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Before me were six deeply worried faces, desperately wanting to know what was going on. Taking more deep breaths, I gave one of the most used and dodgiest answers in the world, "I...I don't want to talk about it right now." Then I finished by changing the subject. "You said we needed to go to your castle, Twilight. I think we should get back on track so as not to lose time."

Rainbow Dash got directly in front of me and I could see that she was not satisfied with my answer. "Hey. don't dodge the question! Whatever is going on with you, I guarantee it's very important information that we need to know. Look, you can trust us." She gave the most reassuring grin she could, yet it was mixed with her worry.

"Hey, give him some space, Rainbow," Applejack said. "He's pretty upset and you interogatin' him and all ain't helpin'." She turned to me. "Look, sugar cube, if you don't want to tell us, that's fine. I just need you to know, that you can trust us. Me, Rainbow Dash, all of us."

I sighed and stood up. Each face expressed concern and I could tell that each one of them desperately wanted to know what was wrong. I knew I had to give them something, but I couldn't do it just yet, not until I was ready. "Look, its not that I don't trust you-."

"Then what is it?!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Compose yourself, Rainbow! Let him finish," scolded Rarity. She motioned for me to carry on.

"As I was saying, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that...I..." I struggled to find the words and the fact that they were leaning closer, anxiously waiting to hear an answer didn't help. I sighed again, knowing that I could give them no satisfactory answer for my unwillingness to answer their question. "Look, I really just do not want to talk about it right now. I...don't know how to put it into words, but it's just really hard for me to discuss it. I'm not comfortable with doing so." They saw that they wouldn't be successful in drawing an explanation out of me, so they all just sighed and resumed walking. Though, they still kept those worried expressions.

Everyone watched us from their houses or jobs as we moved down the road. All of them were just curious really. I did not see a single negative look amongst any of them. Though, the stares did make me feel uncomfortable, like I was an animal being exhibited at a zoo. I trailed at the back of the group so as to avoid any further pestering, but the yellow pony slowed down and began walking beside me. She didn't look as if she was going to ask me any questions, but instead she seemed like she just wanted to walk with me. I was happy with that.

She seemed as if she wanted to say something, but she looked too afraid to say it, as if I intimidated her. We walked on for a few more minutes, the group still remaining quiet with some whispering passing between them from time to time. "Excuse me, Mr. Philip." The voice was quiet and I barely heard it. I looked beside me to see that it was the yellow pony who had spoken to me. She looked rather sheepish as she continued to speak. "Um, I'm not sure what you're going through right now, but I just wanted to tell you, I think it's all going to be ok." She looked up and smiled at me and I nearly believed her. I smiled back and said, "Thank you."

Twilight, leading the group spoke up and shouted back to me, "Ok Philip, we're almost to the castle. You should be able to see it in about a minute."

"I wonder what this castle looks like," I thought. "Based on the town, it most likely has a medieval look to it, with a moat, a drawbridge and - Holy crimeny Christmas!" I sounded my exclamation aloud and everyone looked confused at my strange utterance. I had all the reason to be surprised, though. Twilight's "castle" was in the shape of a tree and was made completely out of crystal. It had several towers here and there, but the whole thing was just big, gaudy, and mismatched architecturally, especially with the town.

"Twilight," I said. "Is that your castle?"

"Yep. This is where we are going to try and begin solving the mystery of your arrival to Equestria."

Author's Note

My goodness, it is sooooo frustrating setting things up. It takes so stinkin' long! I really hope I'm not boring you guys. Anyway, I have a lot of plans for this story, but in the case of all writing, I'll only know what to do when I get there. Also, tell me what you would like me to incorporate into this story and I'll see what I can do. This is going to be a looooooong trip and I'm not entirely sure what the destination is. I guess that's what the journey is for.