Love and hate; two of the most powerful words set forth in human history. Together, they created the individuality of humans between one and another. Another powerful word; secrets. Secrets are, and were always, what every living creature lives by. Some were minor; others were serious. Sometimes, humans didn’t even knew they kept secrets of their own. That was one man with this life.

John Goodman, a youth of eighteen, joined the army to support his family and defend his country from the corruption of a third world war. He was a man who never had any problems in his life. He was smart, athletic, and did things that were the best for him. John was also a guy who wanted to make friends. He’d had a pleasant life alongside with his friends, before he signed up for the army.

Since then, the majority of his friends stopped talking to him. When John asked the reason for their sudden alienation, they said that joining the army was just a way to put an end to his life. With a feeling of betrayal and sore from his friends’ words, the young man decided not to talk to them anymore, and his group of friends dropped to seven people: six guys and one girl.

A few days before he was deported to the army, John decided to make his final farewell to his friends. He took them out for a celebration, not only for his departure, but also to celebrate that he had great friends that were respectful to him, the decision was bad. As the celebration went on, John made a speech, thanking his friends for staying with him and expressing the hope that he could come home alive. His friends were impressed with the way he phrased some of the greatests quotes about friendship and clapped after his words. John was happy that he had friends with him.

When the celebration was over, his friends gave a final farewell to John. He looked at each of his friends as they talked to each other.

One friend was loud and funny, sometimes he was confusing, but always had a smile on his face.

Another friend had a southern accent, he was a bit stronger than John, and only spoke with honesty.

His third friend was shy and quiet, but he was always missed when he wasn’t in the group.

The fourth friend was a rocker who loved cool things, he was always loyal to everyone in the group.

The fifth friend was a bit prissy, he only spoke proper English and always dressed in perfect fashion. But he was the most generous person John knew, and he was a good friend.

The sixth friends was the smartest man in the group. He was a bit wimpy, but you wouldn’t find someone who was a better friend..

The seventh friend was the one that John always has his eyes on, despite it not being noticed in the group.

She was everything that John had ever wanted in a woman. Not only was she beautiful, but she also smart and strong. John had a crush on her, but he never told her his feelings, because he knew the other guys liked her too. John may had liked her, but he knew how to control his feelings.

After he friends made their final farewell, John went home to prepare for his departure. He packed up only a few pairs of clothes, his iPod, and a picture of his family. Once he was done packing, he put his bag on the floor and laid down on his bed. John was excited to travel to new places and meet new people. He was ready for an adventure of a lifetime.

***

After a grueling month of boot camp, John was deployed to Iran. The location of a boring, yet important military base. He never thought he would be deported there, even if there were rumors of dissent among the locals. John had hoped to be deported to China, or some other country where there was actual fighting.

John patrolled down the street of a small Iranian town, thinking of how he would spend his night if nothing went wrong. As he was thinking about getting drunk with his squad, someone called him on his radio for an update on his patrol.

“Is everything clear? Over.” said the male on the radio.

"Yes. Everything seems clear. Over.” John replied.

“Great get ready to head back in. You only have about ten minutes till you’re off for the day. Over.”

“Only if nothing goes wrong.”

“Well, see you at camp, private. Over and out.”

John went back to his thoughts and continued walking. As he continued patrolling the street, two soldiers approached to him.

“Hey, John, you see anything weird around here lately?” asked one of the soldiers.

“No,” John responded. “Why?”

“We're just asking, that’s all.” said the other soldier.

Just like that, the two soldiers continued their way, leaving John in confusion. “Weird.” he said to himself, as he checked his watch. It was 6:00 p.m. He headed towards the base where the soldiers spent their down time.

Good thing nothing happened to me today, John thought, smiling to himself.

When he got back to the base, John learned that the rest of his squad was still on duty. So he resigned himself to sitting on a bench alone, wondering how his friends and family were doing, as he looked up at the evening sky.

I wish that you guys were here with me, he thought, I miss you so much.

John got up and stretched. He began to walk towards the cabins so he could catch up on some sleep. The life of a soldier is not a comfortable one.

Just as John was about to enter his squad’s cabin, he felt the wind pick up violently, and he stopped. He looked around and saw no one on sight. He then looked up into the sky, and saw black clouds looming overhead.

A thunderstorm? In Iran?, John thought.

As he went inside the cabin, the wind became even stronger, forcibly blowing the door open. He looked out the doorway and spotted a tornado, just a few feet away from the cabin. As the wind got even stronger, things in the cabin began to move. Soon John began to float towards the door. He had to think of something to hold on to, and fast. He immediately grabbed the couch, knowing it was attached to the ground. However, the wind began to pick up more, and John's hand began to slip from the couch. John flew towards the door and was sucked into the tornado. Before he went in, he noticed that the camp wasn't taking any damage. He yelled for help, but he was already inside of the tornado.

Inside the tornado, John was terrified, he saw flash of lightning and colors spinning around him. The soldier became amazed, despite his terror. John wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or be silent. Suddenly, he felt too tired to stay awake, and he closed his eyes.

Think of something that makes you feel happy, John thought.

The only thing that came to his mind was the day when he received the letter from the army, and, it wasn't really a happy one after all.

It was a warm, sunny day. John was watching the news about the rumors of the war in the Middle East. His mother was checking the mail, and saw an envelope from the U.S. Army.

“Mail for you,” she said, handing him the envelope.

John got up, took the letter, and opened it. The contents said that he had been accepted into the Army, and that he would be go to the training camp within a month. John was thrilled, but his mom a different reaction. He looked at his mother as tears came out of her eyes.

“Mom, why are you crying?” John asked.

“Its just that… you’re so young to join the army.”

“Mom, I’m doing this for my best interest and to help pay the bills.”

“I know but why you? Why it can’t be your older brother?” his mom said as she walked to the next room and cried.

John knew that his mom hated to see him joining the army, but he was only doing it because he wanted to help support his family. After some time, his mother accepted the fact and made her farewell when John departed. Since then, his mother prayed every day for his safe return.

***

John opened his eyes and saw that he wasn't in the tornado anymore. He was in a grassy field, where the sun was shining and there was no one in sight. The soldier got up and looked around, noticing a sign that read 'Welcome to Ponyville'.

Ponyville? What a weird name for- John thought, but he stopped when he realized that Iran was a desert country.

No...it can't be. John thought as he began to worry. Have I been teleported to a different world?

John began to walk towards the town, seeing nothing but buildings and houses that were just like the Middle Ages described. Every building looked similar to it’s neighbor, even being colored identically. Suddenly, a warm feeling came over him.

That’s odd, I feel like I'm home, but I have definitely never been here before, John wondered as he continued to walk.

Within a minute, he spotted a giant tree with windows and a door. The tree had a sign near it, adorned with merely a picture of a book. It didn't take long for him to conclude that the tree was a library.

“Maybe there's someone in there,” John said to himself, curiously.

He entered the library and saw that there was no one there, or so he thought. John looked around the library and was amazed by the amount of books the tree contained.

“Wow! I haven't been a library full of this many books since the library in D.C,” John exclaimed, amazed by the sight.

John took a closer look at the books and studied their titles. Some of them were totally ordinary, books on Geometry and Biology, however, John raised an eyebrow when he spotted titles like Magic for Beginners and Ponies Philosophy. It was then when he was sure that he wasn't in Iran anymore.

As John turned to scrutinize another bookshelf, he heard footsteps from upstairs. The soldier took a few steps away from the books and saw someone coming down the stairs. Only to find that it wasn't a human being at all.

It was a small dragon.

“Can I help you with-” asked the dragon, but it stopped when it noticed John.

John was shocked as the dragon was. John then spoke in fear. “You’re...a dragon.”

“H...how do you know w...what I am?” asked the dragon.

“Dragons only appear in fairy tales and legends.”

“Wh...where are you f...from?”

Before John would even answer the question, the frightened teen heard more footsteps and saw another creature that wasn't like the dragon.

It was a purple pony.

“Spike, is something wrong?” the purple pony asked .

“Look!” the dragon responded by pointing a finger at John.

The purple pony looked at the teen and it's jaw dropped.

Okay, now things are really starting to get weird, John thought.

“Spike, quick before it attacks us.” said the purple pony. There was a flash of light, and it disappeared, along with the dragon.

With that bit of strangeness over, John left the library in a sprint. The teen kept on running until he was no longer able to see the tree. Only then did he stop by a fountain to catch his breath.

It can't be true...it can't be, John thought exhausting. Am I...in heaven? Hell? No... a fairytale..?

John sat down on the ground and began to rest.

All this running and thinking makes me thirsty.

He turned around and cupped his hands in the fountain to got a hand full of water. As he drank it, John had a feeling that someone was watching him. The curious teen turned around and saw something that made him feel more paranoid than ever. There was a number of ponies watching him, each of them wearing shocked expressions on their faces. John got to his feet and noticed even more ponies, surrounding him. He looked around and saw that each of them showed that shocked expression. John felt he could agree with that sentiment.

This is worse than taking that psychiatric test.

Then, John saw a little blue pony flying in the air, flapping small feathered wings. This one didn’t look shocked at all, this one looked angry at him. He could never have expected that this would happen to him. Transporting to another world full of ponies and maybe even dragons from a tornado. He had never expected this to happen at all. Suddenly, it all became too much for him to handle. All the ponies screamed in terror when he just fell to the ground, out of the blue. Some of them ran in horror, and others drew closer to the fainted human.

“Don't touch it! Let me handle this.”

***

John woke up to find himself back in the tree library. He rubbed his eyes and saw six ponies, including the purple pony, and the dragon. He realized that none of them seemed to have noticed that he was awake. John got up quietly and began to walk towards the door slowly. As he got near the door, one of the ponies yelled out,

“IT'S GETTING AWAY!”

John turned around and saw that the ponies were running to him. He began to run, but he was soon somehow cornered by them. John realized that his life was in danger, and he had to think of something fast. Thankfully, the soldier hadn’t been given an opportunity to remove his Army gear, and as such he still had his combat knife. He pulled it from it’s sheath and pointed at them.

“Stay back, or I'll cut you,” said John, trying to sound as menacing as possible. The ponies stopped and looked at John's knife.

“We're not going to hurt you,” the purple one said.

“How can I trust you?” John said. “I know that you got magical powers and can fly.”

“Not all of us can,” said an orange pony.

John looked at it and saw that the pony didn't have wings or a horn.

“Besides, if it wasn't for us, you still be out there in the cold especially this time.” the orange pony added.

John glanced to a nearby window and saw the vale of night. The orange pony was right, it was dark out and possibly cold. Maybe even windy. John held the group in a wary gaze, before finally speaking. “If I put away my knife, would you tell me who are you, and where am I?”

“Yes we would.” said the orange pony.

“Applejack, are you sure we can trust him?” asked a white pony.

Before Applejack could say anything, John put away his knife, which surprised everypony in the room.

“See? I told ya,” said Applejack with a smile.

Now that the knife was in it’s sheath, Applejack walked a few steps forward and stopped.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Applejack and I live in an apple farm outside of Ponyville,” she said, before turning to face the other ponies and adding, “Come on y'all, introduce yourselves.”

The purple pony slowly cantered forward until she was only a few feet away from John and spoke, “My name is Twilight Sparkle and I live in this library.”

The human was starting to cool down, but he was still aware that they might be trying to trick him.

“Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie and I live at Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s Bakery shop, Sugarcube Corner,” said the pink pony excitedly, “We're going to get along really well...uh...what's your name?”

“John Goodman.” he spoke slowly.

“Wonderful!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Then the white pony took a few steps and brushed her royal purple mane off her face with flare. “I'm Rarity, the finest designer in Ponyville.”

John nodded and looked at the next in line, the dragon. The dragon was at first a bit scared, but he was quickly managing to overcome the fear. The purple creature looked at John for a second and spoke.

“I'm Spike and its an honor to meet you.” said the dragon.

“Well actually, its an honor for me to meet you, because I never meet a real life dragon before.” said John amusingly.

“Really? Am I that legendary in your world?”

“Yeah."

“Ahem.” said the light blue pony.

John looked at the pony and noticed that she was once again flying.

“I'm Rainbow Dash! The most awesome pony ever.” The pony did a pose as she spoke.

John chuckled a little, which made Rainbow Dash flush.

“What? You don't believe me?” she challenged.

“Your attitude just reminds me a friend of mine. He would’ve said the same thing.” said John with an evil smile on his face.

“Can your friend do this?” Rainbow Dash scoffed, before flapping her wings more quickly, obviously preparing to do some kind of stunt.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle yelled, “Not in here.”

“I just want to show off my moves.”

“Well not in here.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs with a humph, and shot a grumpy facial expression to Twilight. John set his eyes on the final pony, this one was yellow. She was trying to hide her face behind her mane, showing him that she was scared. John tried to move closer to the pony, but was stopped by Twilight.

“What are you doing?”, asked Twilight.

“I just want to ask her name,” responded John. "It's not like I'm going to hurt her."

Twilight scrutinized John for a second, before stepping aside.

“Thank you.”

When John was about a foot away from the pony, he crouched down to try and look her in the eye. She started shaking a little.

“What's your name?”, asked John.

The pony however, didn't respond.

“Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you.”

No response

John sighed and smiled. “I understand that you’re scared of me. You’re probably thinking about how this big monster is going to hurt you and your friends. Well I'm not going to do that, and if you don't want to tell me your name, that is fine with me.”

John stood and began to back away.

“Her name is-” said Twilight but stopped when the pony suddenly lifted her face and looked John in the eye.

John looked at the pony as she spoke. “M..my name is Fluttershy.”

John was surprise at her low volume and gentle tone, just like his other friend. But what was even more surprising that he saw her face from her mane.

“Fluttershy? I like that name.”

Fluttershy's blushed a little and smiled.

“So now you know who we are, I’ll answer your other question. You’re in a world called Equestria, a world filled with ponies, dragons, and too many other creatures to mention.” said Twilight.

I wonder what other kinds of creatures there are, John thought.

“So John Goodman, how did you get here?”

“Well, I got here by the tornado outside of Ponyville.” said John.

The ponies gasped and-

“The tornado from the other night?” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah. It dragged me into it and I ended up in here.” said John.

“And the tornado moved on its own, but didn't get near the town.” said Applejack.

“This is strange. A tornado moves on its own, a creature from another world. Who knows what can happen next for Ponyville or even Equestria.” said Twilight.

There was silence in the room for a minute, but it felt like hours.

“Well its getting late and I need my sleep.” yawned Rainbow Dash.

“Same here.” said Applejack.

“Me too.” said Rarity.

“See you tomorrow Twilight.” said Pinkie Pie.

“See you girls tomorrow.” said Twilight.

So the ponies left leaving John, Twilight, and Spike alone in the library. John then knew that he needed some place to stay.

“Um... Twilight, do you mind if I stay here until I find a way to get back home?” asked John.

“Sure. Spike will take you to the guest room. And... I was hoping...” said Twilight.

“Hoping what?”

“Hoping you could tell me about you and your kind.”

John stood where he was and thought about it. It was clear that they won't turn him into the authorities, as if they had one. She seemed friendly enough, but John was still aware that they might be trying trick him.

“Of course. I don't mind.” the human spoke.

“Great! We'll start tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

So, Spike showed John to the guest room, which seemed nice to him. A window, a bed, a bookshelf with books, and a small table. There was a clock on the wall that showed the hour to be ten. The human seemed pleased with the room's designed.

“The room looks nice,” said John.

“It’s never really used, but we kept it clean.” Spike said.

John looked at Spike and wondered if he had ever been on a rampage, since he was a dragon.

“Spike I have something to say.” said John.

“Okay.” said Spike.

John paused and stared at Spike. The dragon was half the size from the human, just up to his waist. As for the ponies, they were tall up to John’s upper chest. For a dragon, Spike seemed adorable for John.

“How are you different from other dragons?" John asked out of curiosity.

“What do mean?” Spike wondered.

“Like dragons are suppose to be mean and stuff, but you're nice and happy. I don't really get that.”

“Oh. It’s because I was raised by ponies and, they are nice. The other dragons are just mean and cruel.”

“But you eat jewels right?”

“Of course. They're delicious.”

“Well that leaves with one question.”

“What's that?”

“Are you greedy?”

Out of all the questions in the world, or perhaps the universe, John picked that one. It made Spike a bit uncomfortable as he turned around and headed towards the door. The human, then, felt stupid since he brought it up.

“Oh. I understand. I shouldn't asked you that.” John continued.

Spike stopped by the doorway, but never turned around.

"I'm sorry that I asked you that question. I'm just curious. That's all."

The dragon stood there for a moment as John sat down on the bed. Neither one of them made a single sound for a minute, but it felt like hours for the two of them. The only sound that was presented was the clock. Good one, John.

“Its okay," Spike finally spoke "Sometimes I can be greedy if I give in too much.”

The dragon turned around and looked at John. The human was relieved to see that Spike wasn't mad. He wouldn't dare make a dragon angry.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I have anger problems." John spoke with a bit of happiness.

Spike looked at the human with confusion.

“You have anger problems!?”

“Of course. But I controlled it.”

“How?”

“Well, I take deep breaths and think of something happy.”

“Does it work for me?”

“I can't really explain it, but as of the happy part, it does work.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“I think I know my happy thought.”

“See? Use that thought when you feel greedy and you'll be alright.”

“Okay, thanks John.” Spike gave a smile to John and he smiled back.

“Well, it's getting late. Hope tomorrow doesn't go as crazy as today did."

“Okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

As Spike left the room, John laid on the bed and was relaxed by the softness of the mattress.

Man, what a day. Met ponies, a dragon, and ended up in a different world. What a day! John thought. But this feeling... I feel... like... I'm home. And... I just became friends with a dragon. How weird.

John went to sleep as he thought about everything else.

I hope this a dream.

Author's Note

You maybe thinking, What the hell happened? Why's chapters 1, 2, and 3 combined? Where's the chapters?

Well, I realized that my story needed to be improved... a lot. So I found two editors to help me improve the story. And the fact that some of the chapters are similar to one another.

Overall, the story is getting improvements.

Chapter is edited by Narden Gryphous and Narlepoax III