Life Lessons

by Sunny Spectrum

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Human, Drama
Length: 25986

Killed by a school gunman, middle school teacher Chris Marsh wakes up in Equestria surrounded by talking...ponies?

When a gunman threatens his school, teacher Chris Marsh tries to stop him. In his attempted heroics, Chris is killed and wakes up to find himself in Equestria. Now Chris must adapt to his new life, but there are still a lot of lessons left for him to learn.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-02-26 16:40:14 UTC

Chapter 2

That all too familiar darkness filled my vision, but I did not take nearly as long to regain most of my energy.   I heard a light beeping sound come from my left.  The sound being all too familiar as well.  Am I in a hospital?

I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted with blinding light.  I powered through the burning sensation and allowed my eyes to readjust.  After they had focused a bit, I looked around to find that I was indeed in a hospital.

The white walls and ceiling allowed light to reflect off their surface and made the room very bright.  I looked down and noticed that I was in a bed.

“Look girls he’s waking up!”  I looked up and saw six shapes in front of me.  They looked familiar as well, so I focused my eyes on the figures.  It took a second, but the detailed images finally registered in my brain.  They were standing at the edge of my bed and now that they were so close, I got a better look at all of them.

The one farthest on my left was white with a curly light purple mane.  She had long eyelashes and alluring azure blue eyes.  One thing that caught my attention was the thing jutting from her head.  Wait, is she a unicorn?  I thought they were just myths!  Not believing what I was seeing I moved on to the one next to her.

The next one was yellow with a long pink mane.  She had adorable cyan eyes and seemed to have a very timid nature as she tried to hide her face behind her mane.

The middle-left one was the one that had worn the tiara.  She was a unicorn as well.  She had a lavender coat and purplish-blue mane with a magenta stripe running through it.  She had purple eyes that matched the rest of her body.

The one to her left was an orange horse with a blonde mane that was tied up at the end into a ponytail.  She wore a brown stetson on her head that made me believe she was some sort of cowgirl.  Her eyes were an emerald shade of green and she had freckles on her cheeks.  Overall she looked pretty cute but also really strong.

The next one was pink.  Her coat was a hot pink and mane was darker shade of pink.  Her mane was very poof.  The way it laid reminded me of cotton candy, though I doubt it tasted like it.  Her eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than the timid yellow one.

The last one was….flying? She has wings!  Wait..now that I think about it isn’t there another mythical horse with wings?  What was it called again?  Ummmm...oh! I know, a pegasus!  Yeah that’s right, there are unicorns with horns, and pegasuses?..no uh...pegasi with wings.  I looked back to the others and noticed that the yellow horse also had wings, I must have missed them the first time because they were tightly folded to her sides.  Anyway, back to describing the last one.  She had a cyan coat and mane that was the colors of the rainbow.  She had magenta eyes that drew my attention to them.  Her mane was a bit wild and from the look on her face seemed to be a bit of a tomboy.

“What are you and what are you doing in ponyville?”  The lavender horse looked at me with a very serious gaze.  Once again, the fact that they can talk is blowing my mind, but I need to ignore it because right now they don’t seem too happy with me.  I opened my mouth to talk but couldn’t seem to form words.

“I..uh…”  I stopped, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.  Opening my eyes, I felt my nerves calm down a bit.  “I-I am a human, as for what I’m doing here...wherever here is, I don’t know.”

“Are ya friend er foe?” The cowgirl spoke with a southern accent that fit her appearance perfectly.

“Uh...friend?  I guess...I’m not here to hurt anyone if that’s what you mean.”  Right after I said this, a look of relief spread across their faces as they all let out a loud sigh in unison.

The lavender horse began to speak again.  “Well that’s a relief.  Sorry that we chased you earlier, everypony in town ran scared so we figured that you were dangerous.”  Every-pony?  That’s new.  “I’m Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends.”  She pointed her hoof towards the other ponies next to her.

“I’m Rarity, it’s nice to meet you darling.”  said the glamorous white unicorn.

“Howdy pardner, name’s Applejack, Ah’m proud owner of Sweet Apple Acres!” Said the cow-pony...I don’t know, I thought I would try it.

“The name's Rainbow Dash, you may have heard of me, fastest flyer in Equestria.”  The cyan pegasus exclaimed in a bold tone.  Someone’s a little full of themselves.

“My names Pinkie Pie!  I’m Ponyville’s super duper party pony! Oh!  I should throw you a party!  Do you like parties? Oh what am I saying, everypony likes parties!  I always throw a welcome party for all the new ponies in Ponyville, but you’re not a pony are you?  You said you were a hue-man right?  What is a hue-man? Are there more like yo-Mmph!”  As my mind was trying to decipher all that she was saying, Applejack stuffed her hoof into Pinkie Pie’s mouth to shut her up.

“Sorry ‘bout that sugarcube, Pinkie here’s one big ball o’ energy.  She tends to get like this when somepony new ‘s in town.” If this is her just a bit excited, then I don’t want to see her on a sugar rush.  My brain is still recovering.

I looked at all of them and then let my gaze fall upon the cowering yellow pegasus.  “And you are?”  I asked while trying to make eye contact but found it really difficult with her hiding behind her mane.

Shock hit her face a she realized that I was talking to her.  “Umm….um...I’m..Flutter-”  She spoke so soft that couldn’t make out the last part.

“I sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, could you repeat that?”  I tried to speak in a more soft and gentle tone, trying not to scare her more than I already was.

“I-I-I’m Flut-”  She spoke even softer than before, I could tell this wasn’t working out.

Trying to break the awkwardness and put her friend at ease, Twilight Sparkle spoke up.  “This is Fluttershy, she’s pretty shy but has a very kind heart.”  This made the pegasus blush from her friend’s sudden compliment.  She really is quite adorable.

“So now that you know our names, what’s yours?”  Twilight asked.

“I’m Chris Marsh.”

“Well it’s very nice to meet you Chris Marsh.  Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?”  She asked with a big smile spread across her face.

“Just Chris is fine, and I guess a few questions would be ok.”

“Great!”  Her smile almost extending outside of her face.  Is that even possible?  “You said you’re a hue-man, what is that?”

“Well, a human is the only sentient being where I come from, the only one we know of that is.  There are about 6 billion humans populating the planet.  We have two arms, two legs, and these -” I then proceeded to hold up my hands, flexing my fingers.  “Hands!”

They all went wide eyed from what they were seeing.  I gave a slight chuckle at their reaction.

“Ok next question.”  Twilight said trying to get everything on her mind answered.  “You said that you don't know how you got here, but do you remember what you were doing before?  That may give us a clue as to how you got here."

I let out a small sigh and then proceeded to tell them about the gunman and my 'death'.  Only having to stop halfway through to describe what a gun was.  "-And next thing I knew, I woke up at the edge of the forest right outside of town."  After finishing my very odd story, I looked to see the pure shock and disbelief written on their faces.

“B-bu-but...you died!”  Twilight’s reaction was the worst of them all.  I take her as someone who tries to find logical answers for everything.  I sat there silent for a while letting them (mainly Twilight) take in the information.  Rarity soon spoke up, breaking the silence.

“I find the act very heroic, giving your life to stop those poor, innocent kids from being hurt by that marauder.”  This made me blush.  Me, heroic?  No, I just got caught up in the moment and didn’t want the kids being hurt.  I certainly wasn’t planning on dying.

It seemed that Twilight got all the information she needed, so I decided to ask her a few questions.  “So where exactly am I?”

“Oh that’s easy, you’re in Equestria, more specifically the town of Ponyville.”

“And in a bed in the hospital!”  Pinkie Pie added with a big smile.  Really, I never would have guessed!

I let out a long yawn, I guess all my energy hadn’t actually recovered.   All the girls looked at me and giggled.  Twilight then spoke up.  “I think we should let you get some rest.  The doctor said that you could get out of here tomorrow.”

I nodded, fully realizing that I could use some sleep.  “Yeah I think I could use a rest, thank you. Will I see you girls tomorrow?”

“Yup, we figured you could use some friends to show you around Ponyville.”  Friends?  Was it really that easy for us to become friends?  They seem happy so I guess I won’t deny a chance to gain some new friends.  “See you tomorrow Chris.”  I snapped back to reality from my train of thought.

“Yeah, See you girls tomorrow.”  I gave them a small wave as they exited the room and closed the door behind them. With the room being completely silent with the exception of the EKG’s rhythmic beeping, I laid my head against the soft pillows behind me, slowly drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 3

I woke up feeling completely rested.  I sat up and let out a loud yawn as I stretched.  Man, that was one weird dream.  I thought to myself as I slowly opened my eyes.  I took a look around and found myself in the hospital room.  Or..maybe it wasn’t a dream.  After a few more stretches, I heard the doorknob turn.  I looked towards the door and saw a lemon yellow male unicorn with a very professional looking brown mane step into the room.  The pony was also wearing the top half of a doctor's outfit and glasses on his face.  I noticed the stethoscope slung around his neck.  Eh, what’s up doc?

“Ah, good to see you’re awake.  How are you feeling?”  He said in a generic cheery doctor tone.

“Pretty good, will I be able to leave soon?”

“Yes, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling better.  You took a pretty good hit to the head.  But now that I know you're ok, you are all set and can check out now.” I  don’t know if he’s more happy that I’m ok or happy because I’m leaving.

“Great!”  I said, glad to be able to get out of this bed and get some fresh air.  I looked down at myself and noticed that I was wearing a patient's gown that barely covered everything.  “Do you know where my clothes are?”

“Ah yes, they’re on that chair over there.”  He pointed his hoof towards the wall to my right.  I looked and found my clothes neatly folded and placed on a chair that was backed against the wall.  “Stop by the main desk when you’re ready so we can get you checked out.”

“Alright, thank you.”  I said, not wanting to get up until he left the room.

“No problem.”  With that, he turned around and walked through the door, closing it behind him.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up.  My balance wasn’t great due to the fact that I hadn't been on my feet for what I think was a whole day.  I walked over to the chair and removed the gown.  Grabbing my pants, I pulled them on and buttoned them.  I then grabbed my shirt and put it on.  Next I sat down on the chair, putting on my socks and then stepping into my shoes that were placed next to the chair and tying them.  After I was fully dressed, I opened the door and left my room, heading for the main desk.

I soon realized that I had not seen any of the six ponies I had met yesterday.  Didn’t they say they were going to come by and show me around the town?  I continued walking, not having a clue where I was going and just following the signs on the walls that pointed me in the right direction.   I turned a corner and came to what looked like the lobby.

“Hi Chris!”  I jumped back in shock as I heard multiple voices all shout at once.

I looked down and saw my six new friends.  My shock soon replaced with joy since I thought they forgotten about me.  “Hey girls, I was just starting to think that you weren’t going to show up.”

“Oh darling, of course we showed up.  You’re our friend after all.”  Rarity said with a caring smile.

“We just thought it would be fun to wait out here and surprise you!  Were you surprised, huh were ya!?”  Pinkie said as she got in my face, her excitement was almost too much for me to handle.

“I can definitely say I was.”  We all had a good laugh as I walked to the main desk and checked myself out of the hospital.

All set to leave, I turned around and faced the girls.  "Ready to go?"

"I'm ready Chris."  Twilight spoke up, "But unfortunately the others have work that they need to attend to."

Feeling a bit sad I put on a fake smile.  "Oh, ok well I guess I'll see you all later then."

"Yup we'll definitely have to meet up later!"  Pinkie Pie said.  It almost sounded like she was hinting towards something.  With this, they all turned around and walked to the door, waving as they exited the hospital.

Twilight looked up at me and smiled, "I guess we should get going now."  We left the hospital and started walking through Ponyville.  As Twilight was telling me what each of the buildings were, a thought came to mind. I don't have any other clothes besides the ones I'm wearing.

"Hey Twilight?"  I said, interrupting her from her new job as a tour guide.  She stopped talking and looked up at me, waiting for me to continue my question.  "Is there a place where I could get some new clothes?"  This caused a puzzled look to appear on her face.

"Not really, the only place I can think of is Rarity's.  Though I never took you as one for fashion.”

It then occurred to me that most of the ponies don’t even wear clothes.  I also doubt that there are shops that sell human clothes, considering that no one seems to know what a human is.  “No you’re right, I’m not one for fashion.  But where I come from, it is socially unacceptable to be naked in public.  Plus, humans don’t have coats like ponies do.  So wearing clothing protects our bodies from extreme temperatures and other things.”

“Oh, I see”  Twilight muttered while trying to take in the bizarre information.  “Well in that case, why don’t we head to the Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s shop.”

I nodded in agreement and we made our way to Rarity’s.  It took about 10 minutes of walking accompanied by occasional small talk between Twilight and I until the carousel shaped building came into view.  We got to the door, a bell ringing as it swung open.

“I’ll be right with you.”  Rarity’s elegant voice called from somewhere in the building.  Twilight walked inside and I followed suite, having to duck down to avoid getting hit in the head.  Curse my height.  After I was fully inside I closed the door behind me and turned to face the interior.

It looked like a regular fashion studio.  Light purple walls with pink drapes everywhere.  Pony shaped mannequins lined up along some of the walls.  A small platform for a pony to stand on display, with three mirrors behind it to show all sides of the model.  A changing booth next to the platform with pink saloon style swinging doors.  To my left was two makeup stations and across from me was a staircase leading to the second floor.

I soon heard foot-..I mean ‘hoof’steps coming from the staircase.  Rarity soon came into view and greeted us with what I assume is her usual customer greeting.  “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!...oh, hello Twilight, Chris, what can I do for you today?”  A beaming smile grew on Rarity’s face upon seeing it was us.

“Hi Rarity, Chris needs some new clothing.  Apparently it's custom for humans to wear clothes to cover and protect their bodies, and as of right now he only has the one pair.”  Twilight spoke for me, it’s probably better that she did seeing as how they seem to be good friends.

Rarity’s happy smile changed to one of excitement.  “Say no more, I would love to put my designing skills to the test and create a wardrobe for you Chris.  I’ll just need your current clothing so I have something to go by.”

I blushed realizing I would have to remove my clothes in front of the two female ponies.  “Umm...do you have something I could use to cover myself with while you use my clothes?”

Rarity put her hoof up to her chin in thought, and a few seconds later she perked up.  “ohh I know.”  Suddenly her horn began to become engulfed with a strange light blue aura.  Not three seconds later a large quilt came hovering over to me covered with the same light blue aura as the one around Rarity’s horn.

I was awestruck at the sight.  “Rarity what are you doing!?” I said in a very alarmed tone.

“Whatever do you mean darling?”

“How is that quilt floating!?”  I shouted still trying to grasp what I was seeing.

“Why I’m using my magic of course.  Haven’t you ever seen somepony use magic before?”

Realizing I was shouting, I began to bring my voice back to its normal volume.  “No, where I come from there is no such thing as magic, only fake tricks and illusions.”

Twilight, being the bystander to this whole ordeal quickly intervened.  “There is tons of magic in Equestria.  It allows us unicorns to cast spells with our horns, and pegasi to fly.  Most of the nature itself here has a close bond with magic.”

Finding the existence of real magic caused my head to spin.  “S-so you can make things levitate with your horn?”

“Yes, but we can do a lot more than that.  All we have to do is learn the spell required to do it, although it can take years of practice.”  Twilight replied in a very proud tone.  She must be an expert on the subject.

“Well now that that's out of the way, would you mind removing your clothes now?”  Rarity spoke trying to change the topic.

I was slightly taken aback by her question, right before I recalled why we were here in the first place.  “U-um yeah, um do you mind if I change in there?”  I said pointing to the small changing booth.  Rarity answered by simply shaking her head.

I scurried over to the booth and stepped in.  It was pretty small but I managed to get out of my clothes and wrap myself in the quilt.  I stepped out of the booth and handed my clothes to Rarity, which she took with her magic and trotted back up the stairs.  “I should be finished with your new attire in a little while.  Until then please, make yourself at home.”  With that, she made it to the top of the stairs and out of my sight.

I looked back down to Twilight and she motioned to a couch by the door that I hadn’t seen when we first came in.  We sat down and had some idle conversation.  “Hey Twilight you mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure Chris, what do you want to know?”

“Well..this might sound weird, but how can you and the other ponies talk?  We have ponies back where I’m from, but they’re just domestic animals.”

At first she seemed confused, but soon she began to put some thought into it.  “Well, I guess the same way you can.  From what I can gather, you come from a completely different world.  I think that we ponies have come to develope in a very similar way to how humans have.  There are other creatures here who can communicate and are just as intelligent as us also.  I feel that the creatures in your world haven’t had the ability to develop the same way.  So humans have become the dominant species.”

All of what Twilight said made sense.  I can tell she is very smart and thinks things through logically.  I thought about what she said.  I'm in another world?  Will I ever return to mine?

Looking my lavender friend over, something caught my eye.  “Hey Twilight, what’s that?”  I pointed down towards her rear- that sounds weird, maybe I could use another word for it...um..oh how about flank.  Yeah sounds a bit better.  Regardless, I pointed to her ‘flank’.  There was a small detail that I had not noticed before, she had what looked to be a tattoo.  It was a pink star with five smaller white stars surrounding it.

“Oh that is my cutie mark.”  She said with a smile.

“What’s a cutie mark?”  I asked, not sure if it was just a fancy name for tattoo.

“Well, when a pony finds something they're really good at; his or her special talent, their cutie mark appears.”

"It just appears there?"  I said, not sure what she meant.

"Yup, everyponies born with a special talent, but their cutie mark only appears once they find it."

“So what does your cutie mark stand for?”

“Magic.”  She replied with confidence. I should have known the magic expert would have a talent in magic as well.

A few seconds later, I heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs.  Rarity soon came into view with a large box floating behind her. The clothes I was wearing earlier were neatly folded, sitting on top of the box.

She moved the box and my clothes over to me.  "There you are darling, your brand new wardrobe.  It was a bit of a challenge, but I do say they look divine!"  Her smile glowing, satisfied with her newest masterpiece.

I put the box down and walked into the booth with clothes in hand.  Once I was finished changing, I stepped out and put the quilt down.  I went and grabbed the box.  "Thank you Rarity.  What do you I owe you?"

"Oh darling just consider it a gift, and an apology for chasing you through Ponyville and putting you in the hospital."  Rarity had a sincere look on her face.  Her generosity one of the kindest gestures I have ever received.

I set down the box and kneeled down in front of the white unicorn, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into an embrace.  Her coat felt good against my skin.  “Thank you Rarity, this means so much.”

She returned the hug by putting one forehoof around my back.  “Think nothing of it darling.  I always love new challenges.”  She soon broke the hug, “I’m awfully sorry, but I must run out to do a few errands.  Be sure to close the door when you leave.”  She then proceeded to walk out the door and into Ponyville.

I looked down to Twilight, “Well, where to next?”

"I think it’s getting pretty late.  Let’s go back to my home, you can stay with me for as long as you need.  That is...if you want to.”

It had not dawned on me where I would sleep.  I was flattered by her offer.  “Thanks Twilight, I would love to.”

Twilight’s face brightened up.  “Great!  Let’s get going.”

I quickly picked up my new box of clothes and followed Twilight out the door, ducking once again to avoid hitting my head.  Looking outside I noticed that it had indeed gotten late.  If I had to guess, I would say it was around 9:00.  The moon was high in the sky, the sun hiding behind the horizon, some sunlight still existed adding a faint pink color to the sky.

The walk to Twilight’s was pretty uneventful, consisting mostly of me just enjoying the night sky.  Barely any sunlight was left when we came to a huge tree.  “Here we are.”  Twilight spoke up while looking at the tree.

Looking more closely, I noticed that it actually was a house.  It had a maroon door with a candle carved in it.  A few small windows were scattered throughout the tree, and way up at the top supported by a branch was what looked to be a balcony.  “You live in a tree?”

“Yup, but it’s not just a tree, it’s also a library.”  Living in a library?  Seems fitting for her.

We walked up to the door, all the lights inside were off.  Twilight opened the door with her magic and motioned for me to enter.  I peered inside and quickly noticed that even though there was still light outside, it was pitch black inside her house.  I took a few steps into the darkness, moving slow so I wouldn’t bump into anything.

“SURPRISE!!!”  A crowd of ponies shouted as the lights turned on.  The medium sized round room was full of ponies.  It was like all of ponyville was here.  There were party decorations scattered everywhere and a banner that read: ‘Welcome to Ponyville Chris!’ hung from the ceiling.

A large smile spread across my face, feeling honored that complete strangers would throw me a welcoming party.  Pinkie Pie quickly dashed in front of me with a huge grin.  “Hey Chris!  Remember earlier in the hospital when I said we should definitely meet up later?  Well it’s later and I gathered everypony in town and put together a surprise welcome to Ponyville party for you.  Were you surprised?"  Pinkie was bouncing in excitement.

“Wow Pinkie, thank you for throwing me this amazing party,  and yes, I was surprised.”  I said, my smile never leaving my face.

“I knew it!”  She shrieked, clearly pleased with her ability to surprise me.  “Now let's get this party started!”  She rushed over to an old gramophone and put some music on.  The party immediately began to liven up, everybody was talking and enjoying themselves.  Putting the box I was still carrying down by the door I joined the others.

I mingled in with the crowd, talking with my friends who all attended, and meeting tons of new ponies.  The party went on for a few hours, not dying down until the very end.  Getting lost in the fun though, it only seemed like a little while.  Eventually everyone said their goodbyes, leaving me alone with just my friends.

“So how was the party Chris?”  Pinkie asked, a random lampshade resting on her head.

I laughed at the sight.  “It was wonderful Pinkie.  Thank you all so much, you don’t know what this means to me.”

They all gathered around me, moving into position for a group hug.  I got down on one knee so I was about head level with them, becoming surrounded on all sides.  I felt them wrap around me, it was a little awkward for me because I’m not really used to getting hugs.

We stayed that way for a little while enjoying each others warmth.  They soon let go, all of them returning to all fours as I stood up.  We made our way over to the door as they got ready to leave.

“Good night darling, I will see you soon.”  Rarity said before heading outside and back to her home.

“Bye” Fluttershy said in a very quiet voice. I need to find a way to get her to lighten up around me.

“Awesome party Pinkie.  I’ll see you around Chris.”  Rainbow said before walking out the door and taking off into the sky.

Applejack tipped her hat to me, “It was good talk’n to ya Chris, but Ah’m mighty tired.  I’ll see ya’ll tomorrah.”  She then trotted out into the night.

“I can’t wait for the next party, see you later Chris!”  Pinkie waved before literally hopping out the door, Twilight closed it behind her.

With everyone gone, Twilight let out a loud yawn and I found myself doing the same.  She giggled, “Sounds like we’re both pretty tired.  How about I show you to your room.”

I nodded as I followed her up some stairs to the second floor.  Once we were at the top, Twilight spoke up.  “This is mine and my assistant Spike’s room.”  She then pointed to a door to my right.  “That’s the guest bedroom, make yourself right at home.”

I walked to the door and opened it up.  Looking inside I saw a decent sized bed in the back left corner and a dresser on my right.  There was also a small round window in the middle of the back wall.

I turned back to face Twilight, “Goodnight Twilight, thanks for letting me stay here.”

"No problem Chris, I’ll see you in the morning.”  She replied with a kind smile on her face.

We both turned and went our separate ways.  I closed my door and started to undress.  I removed all my clothes until I had nothing on but my boxers.  I put my clothes to the side and pulled back the blanket on my bed.  I slid under the covers and laid on my back, my head resting against the pillow.  I let out one more yawn before I closed my eyes as began to fall asleep.  Today was my first real day in Equestria and although it is weird, I can tell I’m going to like it here.

Chapter 4

I opened my eyes, the sunlight just starting to shine into my window.  The sun's rays feeling warm on my face as I didn't want to leave the comfort of my bed.  With a reluctant sight, I sat up and got out of the bed.  Sitting by the dresser was the box of clothes Rarity had made for me, though I distinctly remember leaving it downstairs.  Twilight must have brought it up here for me this morning before I woke up.

Opening the box, I took all the clothes out and organized them on my bed.  In all Rarity had made me eight of everything.  Eight different t-shirts, some a solid color and some with designs.  Eight pairs of jeans, all a slightly different shade of blue.  Eight pairs of socks and boxers as well.

After some thought, I decided to go with a plain white shirt and a faded blue pair of jeans.  Once I was fully dressed, I put the rest of my clothes neatly into the dresser behind me and exited my room.  Twilight was nowhere to be seen on the top floor so I headed downstairs.

Right as I made it to the bottom step, the scent of food cooking caught my nose.  I walked through a doorway and into what looked to be the kitchen, noticing Twilight almost immediately making breakfast.  “Hey Twilight, that smells delicious.”

She jumped not seeing me enter the room, “Oh, good morning Chris!  I hope you like pancakes and hash browns.”

“That sounds wonderful.”  My stomach growled, desperately seeking food since I had forgotten to eat ever since I got here.

“Hey Twilight, who are you talking to?”  A younger boy's voice came from behind me.  I turned around as something rounded the corner and stood in the kitchen doorway.  Right as our eyes made contact we both froze in place.

“What are you?”  We managed to say at the same time.  In front of me was a small purple reptile.  He had a green spine of scales that went from his head to the end of his tail along with green claws.  He stood upright on two legs, his slightly green underbelly exposed.  His green slitted eyes seemed to be examining me with same same amount of curiosity that I had about him.

Twilight giggled, noticing our shock.  “Chris this is my assistant Spike.  He is a baby dragon.”  Dragon!  There’s dragons in Equestria?  This world has yet to stop amazing me.  “Spike, this is Chris Marsh.  He is a human from another world.  He showed up here about three days ago.”

My vocabulary started to come back as I could begin to form words again.  “H-hi Spike, it’s nice to meet you, though how come I didn’t see you at the welcome party last night?”  I found it odd that he lived here but I had not seen him at all the night before.

“Aww, there was a party?  I was tired after finishing my chores and decided to go to bed early, I must have slept right through it.”  He whined, clearly disappointed that he missed out on all the fun.

“Come on you two, breakfast is ready.”  She said as she levitated three plates over to a table along with glasses of orange juice.  I walked over to the table which was way too low for me to sit in a chair.  Not seeing any other options I settled for sitting on the floor, the table now about the right height.  I looked at the plate in front of me, the pancakes already covered in syrup.  I grabbed my silverware and began to dig in, enjoying the sweet flavor of the syrup mixed with the fluffiness of the pancake.  The crispness of the hash browns also adding variety to the meal.

We didn’t talk much at first, opting to eat in silence.  About half way through the meal though, Twilight spoke up.  “I sent a letter to princess Celestia mentioning you and your arrival Chris.”  I looked up from my food to give her my attention, “She is very anxious to meet you and we are going to Canterlot later today to visit her.”

Intrigued who this princess Celestia was, I swallowed the bite in my mouth before talking.  “Princess Celestia, who is that?”

Twilight had forgotten that I knew nothing about Equestria.  “Oh, she, along with her younger sister princess Luna, are the co-rulers of Equestria.”

I felt nervous knowing that royalty had requested my presence.  “Why does she want to meet me?”

Twilight laughed, “Well, it’s not everyday you she a human in Equestria.”

We finished our food and I walked over to the sink, washing my plate.  Twilight did the same and then walked into the main room.  “I have to go shopping in town for a little while, but I’ll be back real soon.  Until then, feel free to do whatever.”  She said as a pair of saddlebags floated over to her and landed on her back.

“Ok I’ll see you soon then.”

She gave me a wave goodbye as she walked out the door closing it behind her with her magic.  I turned around, looking at the numerous books that lined the walls.  I wanted to learn more about this place since I don’t think I will be going anywhere anytime soon.  I skimmed over the books until one finally caught my eye, an encyclopedia.  I pulled it off the bookshelf and opened it up.

Reading over some of it I learned a few new things.  First off there are four types of ponies: earth ponies, which are just normal ponies but are very strong; unicorns, which have horns and can use magic; pegasi, that have wings and can fly; and finally alicorns, which have both a horn and wings.  This last species was apparently directly linked to the royal family.  I also learned that young male ponies are called colts and adult males are stallions, and that young female ponies are called fillies and adult females are mares.  Not having much prior knowledge of ponies, I found this information useful.  Another page said that instead of dollars, Equestria’s currency was bits which are small gold coins.

Time had flown by quickly and before I knew it, Twilight had returned, her saddlebags full of groceries.  I closed the encyclopedia and placed it back on the bookshelf.  “Are we leaving soon?” I asked figuring it was later in the day.

“Yup, I just need to put away this stuff and then we can head to the train station.”  They have trains too?  For how simple things seem to be around here, they seem to have a lot of technology.

I waited patiently for Twilight to finish.  It took about five minutes for her to get everything neatly put away.  She walked up to me, “Ready to go?”  I gave her a small nod.  “Spike, we’re leaving for Canterlot, look after the library while we’re gone.”  She called out hoping he would hear her.  She then walked out the front door, me following close behind, ducking as I passed through the door.

We walked side by side as we made our way through ponyville, me taking in my surroundings to try and learn the layout.  I got a few stares from some of the nearby ponies, but most that saw me just smiled and waved, I recognized a lot of them from the party.  We soon got to the edge of town, heading towards the small train station that had just came into view.

The train was waiting at the station.  The engine of the train was pink with a heart shaped window on the front.  The conductor was standing outside of one of the passenger cars.  We walked passed the ticket booth and right to the train.  Twilight said something to the conductor that I did not quite hear.  The conductor gave a nod and motioned for us to board.  Entering the car I saw two open seats and pointed to them.  Twilight looked and then nodded, both of us quickly taking our seats.  The train whistle blew loudly as the train slowly started to move.

I looked down to Twilight, ”Twilight, how did we board the train without buying tickets?”

“Since the princess is requesting our presence, she’s covering the ticket costs.”  She replied.

I was sitting next to the window so I looked outside, enjoying the view.  About 30 minutes passed before the train came to a screeching stop.  Everyone got up and made their way to the exit, I made sure to stay close to Twilight so I did’t lose her in the crowd.  Stepping off the train I looked at my surroundings.

Canterlot was a huge city, the streets were busy and the whole place had a high class feel to it.  Still following Twilight, she headed towards the large palace that towered over the city, easily visible from the station.  Even from this distance, the palace was magnificent.  It looked like something out of a fairy tale, then again, all of this did. I got lots of attention, all the ponies turning their heads to look at the odd creature that was walking by them.  I looked forward, ignoring them and trying to focus on where we were walking.

The palace was now right in front of us, a small bridge leading right to its entrance.  We walked across and made it to the large, decorative doors of the palace, a guard posted on each side.  They were almost identical, both white unicorns that had blue eyes and wore gold armor.  They did not move a muscle, their horn glowing a light blue as they opened the doors allowing us entrance.  Lucky for me, the doors were about ten feet high so I didn’t have to duck to get through.  I followed Twilight, rounding corner after corner hoping that she knew where she was going.  The interior of the palace just as elegant as the outside.

We soon stopped in front of more tall doors, also having guards identical to the ones before stationed outside.  Just like the others, they didn’t move, opening the doors with their magic.  The large doors swung open revealing what looked to be a massive throne room.  Multiple stained glass windows lined the walls spanning from the floor to the ceiling, all with different colors and images in each.  A red carpet stretched from where I was, to all the way across the room that led up to a large golden two-step platform.  A throne was atop the platform with a long banner on each side on the wall behind it.

We walked closer, slowly approaching the two beings that sat on the platform.  The closer we got, the better I could detail them.  One sat in the throne, it looked like a pony but was taller and slim, looking different than all the others I had seen.  It had a white coat and a billowing long mane made of a mixture of blues, greens, and pinks.  The mane itself looked like it was hair, but with no physical mass.  Getting even closer I could tell that it was a she, getting a good look at her appearance.  I noticed that she had both a horn and wings.  So this is what an alicorn looks like.  Her horn was much longer and more narrow than that of a normal unicorn’s.  Her wingspan was also larger than those of the pegasi that I had seen.  She wore a gold necklace with  an amethyst in the middle, gold 'shoes' on her hooves, and a gold tiara with the same jewel that was in the necklace.  I looked to see that her cutie mark was a large sun.

The pony to her right was also an alicorn, but was a bit smaller than the former.  She was dark blue and had the same billowing mane as the other, though hers looked like the night sky.   Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue than her body.  She had the same attire as the bigger one, but her ‘shoes’ were a light blue and her necklace and tiara were black.  The necklace had a crescent moon in the middle that matched her cutie mark.

We were about eight feet from the platform before the white one spoke, “My faithful student Twilight Sparkle, how are you doing?”  Her voice was regal, but very motherly sounding.

“Hello princess Celestia, I’m doing great.”  Twilight replied with a smile.

Princess Celestia looked to me, “And you must be Chris, Twilight here has told me a lot about you.  Thank you for coming.”

“Y-yes your highness, I am honored to be here.”  I felt a bit nervous, not wanting to say or do anything that might offend her, she is the ruler of equestria after all.

Sensing my uneasiness, she gave a small smile, “No need to be nervous Chris, after I received Twilight’s letter mentioning you, I just wanted to meet you face to face.  I assure you though, Equestria welcomes you with open arms.”  Her tone was motherly and calming like before.

I soon felt my body relax as I let out a small sigh of relief.  I really didn’t feel like getting chased again like the day I arrived here.  Celestia stood up and walked down the steps stopping in front of us, who I guessed was her sister right behind her.  Standing by me, I noticed that I was just a bit taller than Celestia.  The top of her head was about the same height as my chin.  She was much bigger than the other ponies, most of their heads only reaching my stomach.

She looked me over before giving me a smirk, “Twilight was right, you are rather handsome.”  I felt a bit flustered as heat filled my face.  I shot Twilight a quick look, her face a bit red as well.  “Wouldn’t you agree sister?” Celestia said looking back to her sister, that same playful look still on her face.  I noticed the blue alicorn now sheepishly hiding behind her sister, a blush on her face.  “Chris, this is my younger sister princess Luna.”  Celestia chuckled from the expressions on all our faces, “Say hello Luna.”

The alicorn mare stepped out from behind her older sister before giving me a small smile, her cheeks still red.  “H-hello Chris I am princess Luna, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise your highness”  I said while my hand rubbed the back of my neck, I was still a bit agitated from Celestia’s remark.  It must have been a while since we had breakfast because my stomach then growled, bringing me back to a normal state of mind.

Celestia smiled, “Sounds like someponies hungry.  Come, let us have lunch.”  I gave her a nod as we all followed her out of the throne room.  We walked through a few more hallways until we came to a door.  Princess Celestia’s horn was covered with a yellow aura as the door did the same and opened.  “Right this way to the dining hall.”  She motioned for us to enter the room with her forehoof.

I made my way inside and saw a long table sitting in the middle of the room, chairs lining the sides of it and one chair at each end.  I sat down in a chair at the corner of the table, Twilight sat on my left, Celestia sat to my right at the end of the table, and Luna took the seat next to her sister across from me.  We sat there for a few seconds just getting comfortable, when some servants came out of some kitchen doors at the other end of the room.  Each one brought with them a tray of food and laid it out in front of us.  They removed the lids revealing a bowl of salad.  I looked at the bowl for a while noticing that it was not your normal salad, it had daisies in it.  Not wanting to eat flowers I spoke up, “Um...princess Celestia, would it be possible for me to have something else?  I don’t eat flowers.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Chris.  Yes, we can get you something else, but now that I think about it, what do you normally eat?”

“Well, humans are omnivores so our diets usually consist of the major food groups.”  As soon as I said this, their eyes went wide.

“Y-you eat meat?”  Princess Celestia said in a scared tone.

I caught onto what she was getting at and immediately spoke up.  “Yes we eat meat, but I have no intention on eating anyone.”  I’m a bit shocked they would come to that conclusion.

This seemed to put her back at ease, “Oh thank goodness, well what else do you want to eat then?”

“Um, may I have a salad without daisies and maybe some carrots in it instead.?”  She nodded and her horn began to glow, another bowl of salad floated out of the kitchen and landed right in front of me.  “Thank you.”

We ate in relative silence, just enjoying our food.  After everyone was finished, I decided to start up some more conversation.  “Princess Celestia, Twilight told me what a cutie mark was the other day and I was wondering what yours and Luna’s meant?”

Celestia gave me a sly grin, “So you were staring at our flanks huh?”

I froze immediately, terrified of what she might do.  I tried to speak but didn’t get very far, “No...I...uh..-”   Celestia broke out into laughter.

“My apologies Chris, but I couldn’t help myself.  Being co-ruler of Equestria, I don’t have much time to have fun.”  She said after finally regaining her composure.  My face still flushed red as she continued,  “But to answer your question, I am in charge of the day, raising and lowering the sun.  Luna is the creator of the night, she raises and lowers the moon as well as makes the night sky.  That is why my cutie mark is a sun and hers is a moon.”

I could not believe what I was hearing.  The princesses make the day and night?  It was just a natural occurrence on my world.  Is there really magic that allows them to do that?  I guess this world really is full of magic.  I let my mind run free, trying to understand how any of this is possible, when a thought came to mind.

I looked over to princess Luna, “So you were responsible for that beautiful night sky last night?”

She jumped back in shock, completely unexpecting my question.  “Y-you thought it was beautiful?”

I was a bit confused, “Well...yeah.  Back where I come from, light pollution from cities goes up into the atmosphere, making the stars and other features of the night sky hard to see.  But when I looked up at the sky last night, it was breathtaking.”  My words were sincere, I always enjoyed the night.  It’s always so quiet and peaceful, the moon and stars lighting up the sky.

A tear began to fall from Luna’s eye as she spoke, “N-no pony has ever complimented my night before, t-thank you.”  I could tell she was trying very hard to hold back her tears.  I can’t imagine how it would feel to do something so important like that for years and not get any recognition for it.

Celestia looked over to her sister with a smile, “I think you just made your first friend dear sister.”

“Y-you...want to be my friend?”  Luna was put into a second wave of shock barely able to stop herself from breaking down in tears.

Celestia kinda put me in the spotlight, I just gave Luna a small smile.  “Sure, I’d love to be your frien-”  Before I could even finish my sentence, Luna sprang at me, completely clearing the table as she flew towards me.

I fell back in my chair as she tackled me to the ground, she let her tears flow as she held onto me for dear life.  “Ohh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”  She cheered, the tears flowing down her cheeks beginning to soak my shoulder.

“Careful Luna, you don’t want to break him now.”  Celestia giggled, obviously not used to seeing her sister this excited.

Luna released her grip on me, blushing a bit as she sat up and wiped the tears from her red, swollen eyes.  “Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away.  Are you alright dear Chris?”

Now that she was off of me, the air that I had lost from the impact with the ground returned.  I sat up, looking at my new friend with a smile.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”  I said before wrapping my arms around her once again.

The hug went on for about two minutes before Twilight spoke up.  “Sorry to interrupt, but I think we should get heading back to Ponyville soon Chris.  It will take a while to get back on the train and will be pretty late by the time we make it back to the library.”  I broke the hug and stood up, Luna landing back on all fours.

"Let us see you out."  Celestia said as she  got out of her chair and began to walk.  We all followed princess Celestia to the palace exit, Luna walked right beside me the whole way there.  Celestia stopped at the tall doors and turned to face us, “Thank you for visiting us today Chris, I hope we’ll get to see you again soon.”  She walked up to me, wrapping one forehoof around me as she drew me in for a hug.  I returned it, wrapping both arms around her.  The hug was brief but nice as she broke away.  As soon as Celestia stepped back, Luna darted at me, squeezing my waist as hard as she could.

“I going to miss you so much!”  Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes again.

I bent down to her level, her grip releasing for a quick second before immediately wrapping her hooves around my back.  Her face was buried in my shoulder and I leaned forward, whispering in her ear,  “I promise I will see you soon.”  She relaxed a bit, but did not loosen her embrace.   We sat there for a few minutes before I finally let go and stood up.  “Thank you for your time and the meal.  I hope to see you both again soon.”  They both nodded and waved as we left the palace, making our way back to the Canterlot train station.

It had taken about an hour to finally reach Twilights house, the train ride was the longest part of the trip.  Twilight opened the door and we stepped inside.

"Spike, we’re home!"  Twilight yelled to her assistant that was nowhere to be seen.  A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"Hey there Twilight, how was your visit to see the princesses?"  Spike said as he made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"It went great!  They got to meet Chris and we all had lunch together.  I even got some time to talk to princess Celestia while Chris here became friends with princess Luna."  She said, happy that she got to spend some quality time with her mentor.

"I think I'll head upstairs see you guys tomorrow."  I said feeling a bit tired from today's events.  I walked up the stairs, making it to the top floor.  I walked out onto the balcony and looked up at the sky.  The sun was almost out of sight as the moon rose high in the air.  I sat there for a while watching as the sun quickly disappeared leaving behind a beautiful moonlit night.  The moon was full and stars filled the night sky.  I made out all of the constellations that I knew, but there were lots that I had never seen before.  I looked with amazement knowing that my new friend had made this masterpiece.  "Thank you Luna, this really is wonderful."  I muttered knowing that no one could hear me.

After what I assume to be about ten minutes, I got up.  I let out a yawn knowing that I need to get some sleep.  I left the balcony and entered my room, closing the door and getting undressed.  Laying under the blanket, I felt my eyes become heavy as I closed them.

Chapter 5

I woke up, letting out a yawn as I stretched.  The morning sunlight shined through my window.  I got out of bed and looked at my options for clothes.  I decided to go with a yellow shirt that had three thin black stripes going diagonally from my left shoulder to my right side.  I also grabbed a pair of jeans along with boxers and socks.  I was about to put on my shirt when a horrible smell caught my nose, quickly realizing that it was coming from me.  It was then that I remembered that I had not showered the whole time I had been here, I must have been too distracted to notice before.  Not wanting to dirty my new clothes, I put on the ones from yesterday.  I left my room and walked downstairs, finding Twilight in the kitchen starting to make breakfast.  Wanting to make sure it was ok, I asked her if I could use her shower.

“Of course you can Chris, it’s right upstairs and to the left.”  She answered with a smile but didn’t look at me, still focused on getting breakfast ready.

I thanked her and headed back upstairs, going back into my room to get the clothes I had set out.  I walked across the second floor and made my way to the bathroom.  Closing the door behind me I turned to see a bathtub with a shower head sticking out of the wall above it.  There was a shower curtain on the outside that looked like the night sky, all the constellations mapped out on it.  I turned the water on and removed my clothes.  After a few seconds, I tested the water to make sure it was the right temperature before I stepped in.  The warm water hit my body, immediately causing me to relax as I let out a sigh.  I looked at the different soaps that Twilight had and selected one that I liked.  I washed myself off, feeling the filth leave my body.  I turned the shower off and got out, drying myself off with a nearby towel.  I put on my fresh clothes, finding a brush in front of the mirror on the wall, I brushed my hair back to its normal form.  I stepped out of the bathroom feeling amazing, smelling a lot better too.

I threw my dirty clothes in my room and went downstairs.  I walked into the kitchen right as Twilight placed our plates on the table, Spike was already seated.

“Just in time for breakfast Chris.”  She smiled and looked me over, “You look great today.”

I sat down at the table, “Thanks Twilight, that shower was really needed.”  We all started eating our food, Twilight had made eggs and some toast.

As I finished the delicious meal, Twilight started up some conversation. “What do you have planned for today Chris?”  She got up to wash her plate.

I followed her to the sink and washed my plate as well, ”I’m not sure, I think I want to hang out with the others girls today so I can get to know them more.”

I finished cleaning my plate as Twilight spoke, “You could go to Sugarcube Corner and talk to Pinkie Pie.  Sugarcube Corner is the local bakery ran by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they let Pinkie live in the upstairs part of the building with them.   It's really close too, closer than where anypony else lives.  That’s why I figured that you might start there and then you could head to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack’s farm.  You’ll have to ask Applejack where Fluttershy’s cottage is, it’s pretty hard to find and would be easier for her to point you in the right direction.  Next would probably be Rarity at the Carousel Boutique which is almost on the other side of Ponyville from here.  The hardest to find will be Rainbow Dash, she lives in a cloud house and since you can’t fly there, you’ll just have to look around for her.”  Rainbow lives on a cloud?  I probably shouldn’t be that surprised considering all the other weird things I learned while coming here.

“Ok Twilight that sounds like a great idea.  Do you think you could point me in the direction of Sugarcube Corner?”  I said still not quite clear where to go.

She nodded and we walked to the library’s front door and stepped outside.  We turned right and Twilight stopped, pointing her hoof, “Just head straight that way and it will be on the left, you can’t miss it.”  I thanked her and waved goodbye as I walked on into Ponyville.

It didn’t take very long to find what I was looking for.  Right in front of me was a building, but what was odd was that it looked like a gingerbread house.  The body of the building looked the same as the other houses in Ponyville, but had a pink door and pink windows.  A sign with a picture of a cupcake on it hanging from the right corner of the building.  The roof looked completely edible, the shingles being made from some sort of gingerbread and white icing swirled along the outer edge.  In the middle of the roof was a small tower, its base looking like a cake with pink frosting and a cupcake sitting on top with candles poking out.  The whole thing looked delicious but I decide that it must not actually be edible and just looks like it is.  This has to be the place.  I thought as I made my way to the entrance.

When I opened the door I was met with a giant crowd of ponies.  They must be busy.  I pushed through the masses and made it to the back of the shop.  I soon saw Pinkie zipping in and out of what looked to be the kitchen, carrying freshly baked goods on her head every time she left the kitchen.

She noticed me approaching her, "Hey Chris, how's it going?"  She was on her way to the kitchen when she stopped.

"Pretty good, I came by to see if you would like to spend some time with me so that we could get to know each other better, but I can see that you're really busy."  I replied feeling a bit sad that I wouldn't get to spend time with her.

"Yeah things are really busy now, like, really really busy.  I've never seen so many ponies here before.  It's almost like everypony got a major sweet tooth all at the same time!  I don't know if I can handle all this by myself."  She let out a big gasp, her eyes widening as an idea came to her head, "I know!  Chris do you know how to bake?"

I took a second to recall my very basic knowledge of baking, "Sure a little bit, why?"

Pinkie instantly grabbed my wrist in her mouth and pulled me behind the front counter where two ponies were hard at work selling customers the baked goods.  "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, can my friend Chris help me with the baking in the kitchen?"

I looked at the two ponies, one was a blue mare with a pink mane that almost looked like a swirl of frosting on her head.  There were earrings in her ears and she wore a yellow apron with purple on the edges.  Her cutie mark was three cupcakes with pink icing and a red candy on top.  The other was a dark yellow stallion, who had a messy orange mane.  He had on a red and white round flat topped hat.  He wore a white apron and on his neck was a bowtie that had an alternating red and white line pattern.  There were also some freckles on the front of his face right below his eyes.  His cutie mark was three square pieces of carrot cake.

They both looked our way, a look of shock on their faces as they saw me.  I gave a shy wave not sure what else to do.  “Do you know how to bake?”  The Yellow stallion who I presume is Mr. Cake spoke.

“Yeah I know the basics, my mother used to bake a lot so I picked up a few things from her.”  I replied remembering the many times I helped her bake as a kid.

“Well I don’t see why not, we could really use the help.  Pinkie will show you what you need to do.”  Mr. Cake said as he returned to the waiting customers.

Pinkie grabbed my wrist again and led me into the kitchen.  Inside was everything we could possibly need, an oven for baking, counter tops and mixers to prepare the various sweets, and cabinets that I assume were full of all the ingredients we would need.  Pinkie let go of my arm and walked over to a cabinet, she quickly grabbed multiple ingredients along with a cupcake tray.

“First we need to make two batches of cupcakes.”  She said as she placed all the supplies on the countertop.  We got to work making the cake mix and put the cupcakes in the oven.  While waiting for them to bake we made icing.  I let Pinkie do most of the work trying to make sure I understood how everything worked.

We worked for a few hours, me taking on my own orders after I got the hang of it.  We made a variety of different treats: cupcakes, different types of cake, muffins.  Pinkie made sure to ‘taste test’ about a third of what we made.   I was worried for nothing, Pikie is apparently always on a sugar rush, so I’m safe.  For now...  We talked almost the whole time, telling stories, jokes, and just getting to know each other better.  Apparently Pinkie’s full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie and she grew up on a rock farm.  How do you farm rocks?

Eventually the crowd died down and I finished up my last batch of muffins when Mr. and Mrs. Cake walked in the kitchen.  I placed the muffins on the stovetop to cool and turned to greet them.  “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Cake, are all the orders done?”

They both smiled as Mrs. Cake replied, “Yes, thank you for your help Chris.  You definitely made things easier.”  As she said that Mr. Cake pulled out a small stack of bits and motioned for me to take them.

“There's really no need for that, I’m just glad I could help out and have some time the to get to know Pinkie Pie.  That was the whole reason I came here in the first place.”  I just didn’t feel right accepting their money, I helped because I wanted to and so I could spend time with my friend.

They both were shocked, “Really?  Are you sure?” They said in unison.  I simply nodded in reply.

“Well at least take those muffins you made, we have extra.”  Mrs. Cake said.

I looked back to the tray of freshly baked muffins, only to notice they were all missing.  “Pinkie!”

Hearing her name, she poked her head out from behind the counter.  Her cheeks were puffed out as she tried to talk with a full mouth, “Whuut?”  She then took a giant gulp, swallowing all the muffins that were in her mouth. H-how did she do that?

I sat there with my mouth wide open as Mrs. Cake tried to get my attention, “Don’t worry Chris, we have more that you can take with you.”  How are they not fazed by that?

They handed me a bag of treats,  “Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Cake but I better get going, I want to go to Sweet Apple Acres to see Applejack next.”  I was about to leave when I remembered something.  “Do any of you know how to get there?”

Pinkie pointed me in the right direction and I headed to my next destination, waving goodbye to Pinkie and the Cake couple.  I opened the bag that they gave me, checking its contents.  There were two muffins, two cupcakes, and a slice of chocolate cake.

After a couple minutes, I soon came to a road that had a small wooden archway over top.  On each side of the road, there were large fields of apple trees.   I followed the road for quite some time until a large barn came into view.  It looked like your average barn but had a small extension on the left side.  There were multiple windows on the side of the building as well as the roof.  A very small tower was above the barn doors and had a roof that was shaped like a pyramid.  I continued along the road until I was standing before the barn doors.

A Large red stallion came out of the barn.  His orange mane and tail were cropped short.  His coat did not cover his hooves, exposing their pale yellow color.  He had freckles under his emerald colored eyes.  Around his neck was a harness that I assume would be used to pull a plow.  His cutie mark was a large green apple.  He was quick to notice me as I made my way to him.

“Hi, I’m Chris.  I was wondering if you might know where Applejack is?”  I said hoping he could help me find her.

“Name’s Big Macintosh.”  He replied in a very relaxed tone, his southern accent just as strong as Applejack’s.

“So, do you know where Applejack is?”  I asked again hoping that he would give me an answer.

“Eeyup.”  His very simple response not helping me at all.

“Could you show me?”  I asked again trying to rephrase the question.

He pointed to the big field of apple trees, "She's out harvest'n, if yah head that way you'll run right into her."  His voice was very deep compared to all the other stallions I have met so far.  His whole appearance was a bit intimidating.

"Thanks for the help there Big Macintosh!"  I said while turning to head in the direction of Applejack.

He replied with a another, "eeyup" as he went off to do whatever he had been planning to do.

I walked through the trees, keeping my eyes peeled to try and locate my orange friend.  After walking for what must have been a half a mile, I began to lose my sense of direction.  All the trees looked the same and they seemed to continue forever on all sides.  The feeling of getting lost was slowly creeping over me and I was about to panic when I heard a loud 'CRACK' come from my left.  I followed the sound, walking slowly to listen for another sound.  After about a minute, yet another loud 'CRACK' could be heard, the source much more closer than the first time.  I looked around a large tree in front of me, Spotting her right away.

She was standing by a basket that was full of apples.  A small cart was parked about ten feet from her and was almost full.  There had to be at least twenty bushels full of apples stacked inside.

I approached her, she noticed me and a smile spread across her face.  "Well howdy Chris!  What brings ya ta Sweet Apple Acres?"

"I decided to spend some time with my friends so I can get to know you all better.  I just came from hanging with Pinkie Pie, and Twilight said I should come here next."

"So how'd ya'll know I was in the fields harvest'n?"  She had a confused look, curious on how I knew her location.

"I met someone named Big Macintosh and he told me where I could find you.”  I said remembering the red stallion of few words.

She gave me a nod in understanding, “Big Mac’s my big brother an’ the strongest, most hard working pony I know.  Though ya may have noticed he ain’t much for talk’n.”

I chuckled a bit,  “Yeah it was a bit difficult to get him to talk, but would it be ok if we spent some time together?”  I wanted to make sure she wasn’t too busy.

“Ah reckon it would be ok, but Ah have ta harvest a few more trees before Ah can be done fer today.”  She pointed to the surrounding trees that still had apples on them.

“If you don’t mind, I would love to help you get it done.”  I said in a very sincere tone.  I really do want to help, but I also wanted to see how she actually goes about picking the apple as well.

Her face lit up a bit at my offer, “If yer will’n ta, Ah’d love the help.  It’s always nice hav’n an extra set of hooves..er I mean..hands.”

We both laughed and walked over to the next tree.  “So how do you harvest apples?”  Ponies are not tall enough to reach up and pick them, plus I don’t think they could pick them with hooves anyway.

“We buck ‘em, like this.”  She said while placing some empty bushels under the tree.  She then stood at the trunk of the tree, bringing her back legs forward as she stood on her fronts.  Swinging her back legs towards the tree in a powerful kick, the shock waves shot through the tree causing it to vibrate rapidly.  One after another, all the apples came falling out of the tree and landed in the empty bushels below.

My jaw dropped, the sight that I witnessed too much for my brain to grasp.  As I have learned since coming to Equestria though, if something doesn’t make sense, don’t try to understand it.  I pushed the thought out of my mind and watched as she lifted a bushel onto her back and walked over to the cart.  It was then an idea came to mind.  Since I highly doubt I could buck the trees, I will do the lifting.  “Hey Applejack, why don’t you do the bucking and I can carry the full bushels to the cart.  That should speed things up.”

She pondered the thought for a bit before speaking, “That’s a pretty good idea there Chris!  If ya got these, then Ah guess Ah’ll just get started on the next tree.”  With that, she went off to another tree.  I lifted the remaining bushels one by one and place them in the cart, I could only carry one at a time due to how heavy they were.

We repeated this process for about an hour, Applejack bucking trees and me putting the full bushels in the cart.  After our eighteenth tree however, the cart was completely full to the point of almost overflowing.  “Ah think that’ll be enough fer today.  The carts full so we’ll need to bring it back to the barn anyway.”  Applejack said as she hooked herself to the cart and began to pull it.

I still didn’t remember where I came from, completely lost in the forest of apple trees.  I stuck close to Applejack following her as she seemed to know the way.  We had some small conversation, walking for about ten minutes.  The barn revealing itself as we walked to the edge of the field, I didn't see it before due to how dense the canopy was.  We made it to the big barn doors and she parked the cart just inside.  I helped her unhook from it and she smiled when she was free.

“Thanks fer all yer help Chris, that idea of yers definitely made things easier!”   She said.

“You’re very welcome Applejack, but I’m just glad I was able to spend some time with you.”

As we continued our conversation, we heard some the voices and laughter of children from close by.  I looked outside and noticed three young fillies approaching the barn.  They were each a different type of pony, a unicorn, a pegasi, and an earth pony.

The unicorn had a white coat that reminded me of Rarity’s similar, but more pure white color.  The filly’s mane and tail were decent in length, the ends curling a bit.  The left side of it was pink and the right a more light purple.

The pegasi was orange and had a short, wild red-violet mane and tail.  Her wings were very small, but I guess they were just proportionate to her body size.

The last one was a pale yellow earth pony with red mane and tail.  She also wore a large reddish pink bow at the top of her head.  The three cute fillies were lost in conversation as they entered the barn.

“Hey there Cutie Mark Crusaders!  Have ya’ll met Chris yet?”  Applejack said obviously talking to the fillies.  Cutie Mark Crusaders?  What’s that?

The three looked in my direction, their jaws dropping, probably because they’ve never seen a human before.  They were all at a loss for words so they just responded by shaking their heads.

Applejack, noticing they were speechless, gave the introductions.  “Chris these are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they go around town trying everything they can in hopes of finding their special talents and gaining their cutie marks.”  She pointed her hoof to the white unicorn, “That there is Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s younger sister.”  Wow, now that I look at her I do see a small resemblance to Rarity.  “That’s Scootaloo, Rainbow’s number one fan.”  She moved her glance to the final member, “And this here is mah very own sister Apple Bloom.”  Her tone a bit more proud at the mention of the last filly.

“Hi, I’m Chris.  It's great to meet you three.”  I said with a wave.

Apple Bloom was the first to regain her composure, “It’s great ta meet you too Mr. Chris, but if you don’t mind me ask’n, what exactly are ya?”  Her young voice and southern accent made an adorable combination.

“Please just call me Chris, but to answer your question, I am a human and from what I can gather my kind has never existed in Equestria before.”

They sat amazed at the one of a kind creature in front of them.  Apple Bloom’s eyes shot open as she must have remembered something, “Oh yeah, Ah almost fergot!  Applejack, would it be ok if the girls and Ah had a sleepover tonight?”  She said as she looked to her older sister.

Applejack put her hoof to her chin in thought, “I guess so, but don’t go stay’n up to late.  It is a school night after all.“  They have a school here?  I guess I’ll have to check that out.

They all burst with excitement as they cheered.  “Thanks Applejack!”  They all said in unison as the ran back outside.  As I watched them leave I looked at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get pretty late.

I turned to look at Applejack before speaking, “Well it looks like it’s getting late, I should probably head home now.”

“Ah guess yer right, well thanks again for help’n me out today.  Ah had fun spend’n time with ya.”  She replied, a big smile on her face.

“Yeah I did too!  WelI, think I’ll get going now, bye Applejack.”  I said while giving her a wave as I walked out of the barn.

“See ya later Chris, feel free to stop by anytime ya hear?”  She called, returning my wave.

I walked back down the road leading into Ponyville, I made my way to the Library as I watched the sun start to set.  I took me a good twenty minutes to make it back to Twilight’s, the sun now disappearing behind the horizon.  Opening the door I stepped in, still having to duck so I wouldn’t hit my head.  I should probably get used to that, considering most of the doors in Equestria are too short for me.

Looking around I noticed Twilight laying on the ground reading, a large stack of books by her side.  “Hey Twilight, I’m back!”  I said, getting her attention.

“Welcome back Chris, how was your day?”  She said as she tilted her head a little in curiosity.

“It was great, First I visited Sugarcube Corner like you suggested and they were super busy.  I managed to find Pinkie and she had me help her with the baking as we got to spend some time together.  I also got this from Mr. and Mrs. Cake!”  I said as I held up the bag of treats they gave me.  “After that I went over to Sweet Apple Acres and met up with Applejack.  I helped her harvest a few apple trees and also got to meet Big Macintosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

At the mention of the CMC, Twilight giggle, “Those three are definitely an interesting bunch.  The best part is that their talents are so blatantly obvious, but for some reason they can’t seem to figure that out.  We just don’t tell them because we all agreed that it would be better if they figured it out on their own.”  We both laughed a bit at the thought and Twilight soon followed with a question, “You were gone all day so you must be hungry, would you like some dinner?”

It then occurred to me that I had not eaten since breakfast, I didn’t have anything at Sugarcube Corner because the stuff we made was for paying customers.  “That sounds wonderful Twilight.”  I replied, both of us heading to the kitchen.

I sat by the table and waited while Twilight started cooking.  I told her a few more things that about my day that I had left out before.  Pretty soon a large plate of pasta was levitated in front of me, Twilight set her plate down and sat across from me.  “Where’s Spike?”  I asked noticing the purple baby dragon missing from the table.

Twilight swallowed the bite in her mouth before answering, “He finished his chores for the day and decided to turn in early.”

I gave a nod in understanding as we continued to eat the delicious meal.  We ate in relative silence, just eating and enjoying each others company.  After I finished my food I got up and washed my plate.  I looked out the window and noticed that it had gotten dark, Luna’s beautiful night sky lighting up the outside.  I turned back to Twilight, “I think I'm going to go to bed too.”  I said before letting out a yawn.

She gave me a nod as she washed off her plate, “Ok I’ll see you in the morning then, goodnight Chris.”

I gave her a smile before Leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs.  I walked to my room and closed my door, getting undressed and slowly made my way to my bed.  I got in, pulling the blanket over me as felt the comfort of the bed.  I sat there just looking at the ceiling, letting my thoughts run wild as I slowly fell asleep.  I am really here in Equestria, but how?  Will I ever know the answer?  Do I really need to know the answer?  Even from the few days I’ve been here, I’ve found this place to be a paradise compared to my old world.  Everyone is so nice and things are so peaceful.  I don’t know how I got here, but I’m really glad I did.

Chapter 6

Opening my eyes, I was greeted with another beautiful morning.  I got out of bed and grabbed some clothes, a blue t-shirt and some dark blue jeans.  I poked my head out, checking to see If anyone was outside my room.  I didn't want to to be seen in just my boxers.  The coast was clear and I quickly walked through Twilight's room to get to the bathroom.  I turned the shower on and got in a few seconds later.  After washing, I stepped out and dried myself off.  I got dressed and left the bathroom, heading downstairs to the kitchen.

I looked around and could not seem to find anyone, noticing a note on the table, I picked it up and began reading.

Dear Chris,

I have been called to Canterlot at the request of the princesses.  I will be gone all day but will be home tomorrow morning.  Spike is off doing some errands for me in Ponyville and won’t be back till later.  If you want it, there is cereal for you to eat for breakfast in the cupboard to the left of the sink.  The bowls are in the cupboard right of the sink.  I hope you won’t get too bored while I’m away.

Your friend,

Twilight

“Well it looks like I’ll be eating alone.”  I said out loud, just trying to break the silence.  I walked to the cupboards and grabbed a bowl along with a box of cereal labeled ‘Equestri’os’, not a very appealing name, but the cereal itself looked good.  I poured myself a bowl adding some milk from the fridge and getting a spoon from one of the drawers.  Bite after bite, I slowly finished my breakfast in silence, feeling a bit lonely with no one else around.  It’s not too bad, I’m going to go see more of my friends today.  I thought to myself as I finished the last spoonful.  I rinsed out my bowl in the sink, walking to the front door as I got ready to head to Rarity’s.

Luckily, I had a decent Idea on how to get there since Twilight and I visited her the day I got out of the hospital.  I started walking through Ponyville, watching the local ponies as they went about their day.  I got a few waves from some ponies as I passed by, I didn’t recognize a single one but I returned their waves anyway.

It took about fifteen minutes for me to find the carousel shaped building.  The look of it exactly how I remembered.  I walked up to the door and opened it, the bell ringing as the door hit it.  I entered and stood just inside, closing the door behind me.

“Coming!”  Rarity called from what sounded like upstairs.  Seconds later she appeared as she walked down the steps.  Her face brightened up when she saw it was me.  “Chris!  How are you doing?”  She said as she walked up to me.

“I’m doing great Rarity, how are you today?” I replied.

“Oh just wonderful darling, I finished my latest ensemble for Sapphire Shores and I dare say she loved it!”  She said, a confident smile appearing on her face.  She looked me over for a second before continuing, “You really do look dashing in those clothes.”

I looked down at myself and then back to Rarity, “Well, you are the one who made them after all.”

Her cheeks reddened from my compliment.  “You know just how to flatter a mare, don’t you?”  She said as looked away sheepishly.  Suddenly she perked back up, her posture regaining her former elegance.  “Oh!  Where are my manners, was there something that you needed darling?”

“I was just wondering if you would like to spend some time with me so we could get to know each other better.  I wanted to go around to all my friends since I haven’t gotten to really know any of you.”  I felt a bit awkward asking that, but I know that it’s really not a big deal.

“I would love to!  Did you have anything planned for us to do?”  She asked.  In all honesty I hadn’t planned anything, while I hung out with Pinkie Pie and Applejack yesterday, I just helped them with whatever they were doing.

“Not really, I was kinda hoping you might have some Ideas, I’m still not sure what there is to do around here since I’m new and all.”  I probably should have put more thought into what we would do, but it hadn’t really came up before.

Rarity thought about it for a bit, her hoof touching her chin.  “Why don’t we chat over a bit of tea?”

“That sounds lovely.”  I said as I gave her a tender smile.  I don’t tend to drink tea that often, but overall I think it’s ok.

“Right this way please.”  She said and walked to a door left of the stairs.  I followed her and we entered a small kitchen, the room colors the same as the main room.  There was a small table to the right and counters lining the walls at the back of the room.  A refrigerator was to my left right were the counter ended.  A large window was next to the table, letting the sun light up the room.  Rarity motioned for me to sit at the table while she walked to the counter to start the tea.

I looked at the table,  it was about the same height as the one in Twilight’s kitchen.  Being too tall to sit in a chair, I pushed it aside and sat on the floor.  I watched as Rarity put the tea in a kettle and started to heat it up.  She walked over to me and sat in the chair opposite of me.

Wanting to start some conversation, I spoke up.  “So I met your sister Sweetie Belle yesterday while I was at Applejack’s.  Her and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were asking to spend the night there.”

She smiled at the thought of her sister.  “She is a rather adorable filly, wouldn’t you agree?”

I nodded my head, “Yeah she sure is.  Twilight was telling me how their talents were very obvious but they couldn't figure it out, what exactly is Sweetie Belle’s talent?”

“Sweetie Belle is a gifted singer, her voice is magnificent and her ability to write beautiful lyrics is almost effortless.  But as you said, no matter how many times she displays her skills, she never seems to realize it’s her true talent.”  Rarity let out a sigh at the thought of her sister’s talent going unrecognized.  “I’ve wanted to tell her many times, but I know that the day she finally sees it for herself will be much more pleasing.”

Thinking of how talented the young filly must be now, I can only imagine how good she will get as she gets older and hones her skills.  “You must really love her.”  I said, as you could just hear the adoration Rarity had for her little sister.

“I do, Sweetie Belle looks up to me and I try to guide her the best I can.  We have had our falling outs like most sisters, but as a result, our bond has grown stronger.”  Tears joy were starting to form in her eyes as she thought of all the great memories they have shared.  She quickly tried to change the subject to take her mind off it.  “So how has it been living at Twilight’s?”

I took a second to recall the purple unicorn that had offered for me to live with her, “It’s been great!  Twilight has been a great host and friend to me.  I also got to meet spike and though we haven’t talked much, he still seems pretty cool.  Twilight wasn’t there this morning when I woke up though.  She left a note saying that she was in Canterlot to see the princesses.”  At this, Rarity perked up in excitement.

“Canterlot!  Oh isn’t it just the most wonderful place you’ve ever seen?  The sophistication, the glamor, the regality!”  She seemed to be in her own little world, dramatically posing with each word.

For the short time I walked through Canterlot, it never seemed that amazing to me.  I have been to upscale cities like that before and always found them unappealing, preferring instead the more quiet life of rural areas.  “I’ve never been one for the city life, it just seems to chaotic.”  I said voicing my thoughts.

Rarity talked a bit more about Canterlot, the history, the famous ponies who live there, and her dreams of living there one day.  The tea had finished in the middle of her ranting and she got it, pouring a glass for the both of us.

We continued conversation for quite a while, topics varying from Canterlot, Earth’s clothing styles, Rarities beginnings as a fashionista, and few stories of adventures her and the other five had together.

“...and after almost falling to my death, Rainbow Dash flew down to catch me along with the wonder bolts that were mysteriously knocked unconscious, creating her signature sonic rainboom in the process!  The judges were blown away and when the wonderbolts woke up they thanked Rainbow for saving their lives.”  As she finished telling me her story, I looked out the window and noticed the sun was high in the sky.  The day’s already halfway done.  Have I really been here that long?

I looked back to Rarity, “Thank you so much for spending time with me today Rarity, but I think I should go.  I want to go visit Fluttershy before the day’s over.”

Rarity gave me a nod, “No, thank you Chris.  I’m so glad we were able to spend some quality time together.”

“Me too.  Um..if it’s not to much trouble, do you think you could show me how to get to Fluttershy’s?”  I said, still not familiar with the layout of Ponyville.

She nodded and used her magic to levitate a piece of paper and a quill over to herself.  She wrote on the paper, using her magic to manipulate the quill.  After a few seconds she handed it to me.  Looking at it, she had drawn a map of Ponyville.  A dotted line went from where we were now, all the way to Fluttershy’s.  “Just follow that and you should get there no problem.”  She said as I looked up to her.

“Thanks again Rarity, I guess I’ll see you later.”  I gave her a smile as I got up from the floor.

“It was my pleasure darling, we wouldn't want you getting lost.”  She replied as she too got up and walk in front of me.

I knew exactly what she wanted and kneeled down on one knee.  She reared up on her hind legs and wrapped her forehooves around me.  I returned her embrace by wrapping my arms around her back, her soft coat felt like silk.  We soon broke the hug and I stood up.  Walking to the front door I turned to looked back at Rarity who had followed me.  “Goodbye Chris!”  She said as she waved.  I waved back to her as I opened the door and stepped outside.

The fresh air felt good as I took a deep breath, letting it fill my lungs.  I looked down at the map Rarity had made for me, making sure I knew which way to go.  Turning left, I began to walk back in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.  It was definitely about midday, the sun almost directly above me.  Was I really at Rarity’s all morning?  I guess the old saying is true, time flies when you’re having fun.

Looking back at my map, I noticed all the detail Rarity put into it.  Not only did she label the Carousel Boutique and Fluttershy’s house, she also labeled all our other friends houses as well as drew a small picture of each one.   There was Twilight’s library in the north west part of Ponyville.  Below that was Sugarcube Corner, closer to the middle of the town.  Below that in the southern part of Ponyville was Rarity’s.  To the west was Sweet Apple Acres, the fields spanning most of western Ponyville.  Above the road that leads to the farm was a cloud labeled 'Rainbow's house' and at the end of a road that branched off from the previous was Fluttershy's.

After about ten minutes, I reached the road to the farm.  Looking up, I tried to see if I could spot Rainbow Dash's house.  There was a large cloud that was bigger than the others, though I couldn't tell if it actually her house.  Moving my gaze back to the ground, I found the path that led to Fluttershy's.

It took another few minutes of walking before I finally found what I looking for.  She lived a pretty good distance from Ponyville, but given her timid nature, it only made sense she lived in a more secluded area.

In front of me was a very small bridge that spanned a creek.  Beyond that was a quaint little cottage that had a very natural feel to it.  The roof was made of brush, the leaves a bright green color, the whole thing looking like a tree top.  A few windows were scattered around the sides of the building.  There were animals everywhere, birds, squirrels, rabbits, and many other small animals just running around.  A large tree was in front of the cottage and had numerous bird houses hanging from its branches.  I don't think I have ever seen so many wild animals in one place before, but as I looked around, I noticed the thick forest that surrounded her cottage.  Most of the animals probably came from there and just like to hang around Fluttershy's.

I walked over the bridge and made my way to her front door.  Most of the animals ran as I got close, probably scared of me since I'm a new creature they've never seen before.  Reaching the door, I decided to knock instead of just barging in and scaring the shy mare.  I knocked a few times waiting for her to come to the door.  No one answered and I knocked again a bit louder, listening to see if I could hear anything.  After waiting a minute with no answer, I came to the conclusion that she wasn't home.  Feeling a bit disappointed, I turned around a to head back to Ponyville.

Right as I was about start walking, a terrified scream came from the forest to my left, causing my heart to skip a beat.  I quickly turned my head to look in the direction of the scream, but as I looked at the tree line I didn't see anything that looked off.  I rushed into the forest, heading straight for where I thought it came from.  I ran a fast as I could, whoever it was that screamed sounded like they were in major trouble.  A few seconds later I came to a small clearing, Immediately noticing the yellow pegasus cowering on the ground.  Not ten feet from her was some sort of wolf, though as odd as it sounds, it appeared to be made entirely out of logs and sticks.  Its eyes glowing a bright green color as It stared at its prey.  Knowing all too well that it was planning to attack Fluttershy, I quickly sprang into action.

My adrenaline started to flow as the wolf pounced at my friend.  Running at it at high speeds, I bashed it out of the air, hitting its side with my right shoulder.  The creature collided with the ground pretty hard, but was quick to get up and form an attacking stance directed towards me.  I felt some pain in my shoulder from the impact with its wooden body, but shrugged it off and gave my full attention to the fight.  It charged me, snarling with its large, sharp teeth showing.  Coming at me faster than I expected, I didn’t have much time to react as I swung my right arm at its head with as much power as I could muster.  I managed to make contact, the creature's head recoiling as he flew to the ground, but not before swiping at me with its large claws.  The claws scratched across my chest, the shirt I was wearing ripping and leaving behind the claw marks.  As the wolf tried to regain its composure from my last hit.  I kicked it in the underbelly, it’s entire body suddenly fell apart into pile of inanimate logs and sticks.

Breathing heavily, I looked over to the still cowering mare.  I walked to her side and gently placed my left hand on her back.  “It’s ok now Fluttershy, that 'thing' is gone.”  My tone as gentle and tender as I could make it.

She looked up, her eyes checking the area to see for herself.  Once she saw the pile of wood laying of the ground, she turned to look at me.  A small smile appeared on her face as we made eye contact.  As she looked at me however her expression changed to one of horror.  I looked down at my body and noticed the rips in my shirt, blood flowing from the cuts across my chest.  This sudden realization caused my senses to kick back in as the immense pain shot through my body.  As I went to move my right hand to my chest, I felt the pain in my right shoulder.  I must have dislocated something when I ran into the wooden creature.

Fluttershy’s attitude seemed to change as she hovered in the air, her usual quiet voice being replaced with a stern, almost motherly one.  “We need to get you to my house so I can bandage you up.  Do you think you can make it?”  I gave her a nod, feeling like I had enough strength to make it back.  “Good”, she said, ”Let’s get going, hurry!”

I got up, the pain almost too much to handle.  After a few steps I felt myself start to lose my balance as I almost fell over, Fluttershy quickly flew to my side to keep me standing.  Making our way back to cottage, I could feel my energy leaving my body.  After about two minutes we came to the edge of the forest, the small cottage coming into view as we emerged from the trees.  I was starting to get light headed as we made it to her front door.

We went inside and she instructed me to lay down on a couch that was in the back left of what looked to be her living room.  Once I was fully situated on the couch, she left the room for a few seconds, quickly returning with a first-aid kit in her mouth.  Opening it up she pulled out some disinfecting spray, gauze, and tape.   She helped me remove my shirt, the full extent of the damage being exposed.  The scratch on my chest was thin, but looked to be pretty deep.  Looking at my right hand, it was starting to bruise from the punch that I had dealt.

Fluttershy looked into my eyes with a sincere but caring gaze, “I’m going to spray the disinfectant on your wound.  It’s going to sting for a little bit, but I need to do it so you don’t get an infection.”  I gave her a small nod, though I didn’t quite register what she said because the room was starting to spin.  Having given my consent, she grabbed the bottle with her hoof I don't know how but she did and sprayed it on my wound.  The instant the mist hit the open gashes, I gritted my teeth as I felt an intense stinging tingle through my body.  After a few seconds the stinging faded, leaving only the original pain from before.  Fluttershy took the gauze and began to dress my wound.  She had to help me sit up so she could wrap it around me since I was to weak and in pain to do it on my own.

After wrapping the gauze around my upper body a few times, she taped it down so it would not come off. The whole thing was wrapped tight enough to my body to apply pressure to the wound, but not restrict too much movement.

Now that the worst part had been taken care of, she then started to attend to my other injuries.  She wrapped my hand in some gauze and then moved to my shoulder, as she tried to move it I winced at the pain.  Knowing full well that it was dislocated, she spoke up, “It looks like you dislocated your shoulder, I can put it back in place but it’s going to hurt a lot.”  I nodded once more, not having the energy at the moment to talk.  I knew that this was going to hurt, but wanting to just get this all over, with I agreed.

She took my wrist in her mouth and put a hind leg in my armpit, pulling as hard as she could while pushing back on me with her leg.  The pain was unbearable for a split second before I felt my shoulder pop back into position.  Fluttershy released her grip and let out a sigh of relief, all the injuries had been treated and we could both relax.  Though I had lost most of my energy, I started to become conscious again and the room stopped spinning as bad.  I looked to the window and noticed that the sun was starting to set, I guess Fluttershy noticed it too because she let out a yawn and then looked to me, “It’s getting late and I’m sure you’re tired, I’ll help you up to my room so you can get some sleep.”

The idea of going to sleep sounded wonderful, especially after all that happened, but I then thought of something, “Where are you going to sleep?”  I asked in a weak voice.

She looked at me with those adorable cyan eyes, “I thought I would sleep down here on the couch, that is...if that’s ok with you.”  She said, her more timid nature starting to return now that the emergency was over.

“Sleep in your bed Fluttershy, I’m perfectly fine sleeping here.”  I replied.  I was touched that she would give up her bed for me and sleep on the couch, but I didn’t feel right kicking her out of her own bed.  She became visibly disappointed as I would not let her sleep on the couch and began to pout a bit.  I gave a small laugh as I though of a compromise.  “Well, since you want me to sleep in you bed and I don’t want you to have to sleep on the couch, do you think we could both just fit in the bed?”

She seemed a little shocked at the idea, “S-sleep...t-together?”

A grin spread across my face as I thought of my response.  “It’s perfectly fine if you don't want to, I’m more than happy to sleep on the couch.”

The idea of me sleeping on the couch played through her head as she made up her mind, “No! I mean um.. there’s plenty of room in the bed for both of us.”  She blushed a bit as she spoke.  Helping me up, she led me to a flight of stairs that was on the left side of the living room.  The stairs were quite the challenge for me due to my current state.  Finally reaching the top of the stairs, we made our way to Fluttershy’s room.

The room was decent sized,  large bed in the middle of the room with the headboard against the back wall.  A checkered butterfly quilt was laying on the bed and a small chest was sitting on the floor at the base.  There was a small nightstand/bookshelf to the left of her bed and on the right wall was a stone fireplace.  A few bird houses hung from the rafters, but didn’t seem to be occupied by any birds at the moment.

Fluttershy helped me into bed, pulling back the quilt as I stepped in.  After I was tucked in, she flew over to the other side and slid under the covers to my left.  I was still in my jeans but not wanting to take them off in front of the shy pegasus, I decide to just leave them on.  To my surprise, she began to cuddle with me a bit, nuzzling her face against me as she laid her head on my left shoulder.  Because I didn’t have a shirt on, I could feel her coat against my side.  Her softness and warmth very comforting as I wrapped my left arm around her back.

“Thank you for saving me Chris.”  She said in a tired voice, as we both began to drift off to sleep.  Before I knew it, darkness filled my sight as sleep had taken over.  Even though I got hurt, I’m just glad I could protect Fluttershy from that wolf-like creature.  I’ve only been here in Equestria for a short time, having my friends for an even shorter time, but I know that I could not imagine my life if something terrible happened to any of them.  Already in the short time I have known them, they have been the most loyal and caring friends I have ever had.  Thank you girls, I don’t think you’ll ever truly know how much you mean to me.

Chapter 7

I started to wake up, the dark void of my closed eyes greeting me.  I felt something next to me.  Moving my hand along its side, I felt the soft coat on my fingers.  As I laid there, the object trembled a little.  Remembering the events from the previous day, I thought of Fluttershy. Why is she shaking?  Is she cold?.

I opened my eyes, the morning sunlight shining through a small window on my left.  I looked down at the yellow mare that was laying against me, her body shaking very slightly.  Hearing a faint sniffling sound and feeling a slight dampness on my shoulder, I quickly realized that she was crying.  "Fluttershy, what's wrong?"  My tone was as gentle and caring as I could make it.

She sniffled a bit while she wiped her eyes.  Looking up at me, she forced a small smile.  "Oh, good morning Chris.  I didn't know you were awake."  For whatever reason, she was trying very hard not to show me her true emotions.

"Fluttershy, why were you just crying?  Whatever it is, I will help you."  After I said this, the tears began to well up in her eyes again.

"You got hurt because you protected me from that Timberwolf.  I'm the one that should have been hurt, not you.  I'm so sorry!"  The tears were now flowing down her cheeks and onto my shoulder.  I can't believe how guilty she’s feeling.  I guess she was too focused on trying to fix me up, that she never thought of what could have happened to me or herself. I'm sure waking up and seeing me like this has finally put things into perspective.

I placed my left hand on her cheek, wiping away some tears with my thumb, her eyes looked into mine.  After she calmed down a little, I spoke up, "Fluttershy, you and I both know that thing would have seriously injured you or worse.  When I came to stop it, I never once thought of my well being, only yours.  If something were to happen to you, or any of the others, I wouldn't know what do with myself.  You all mean so much to me and if I had to give my life for any of you I would do it in a heartbeat."  The thought of such a thing played over in my mind.

Fluttershy shot forward at me, holding me in a tight embrace as we both laid there.  Since my right arm was injured, I could only hold her with my left.  "Thank you for saving my life Chris."  Her words were a bit muffled because her head was buried in my shoulder.

For some time we just laid there, enjoying each others company.  After a while though, Fluttershy got up.  "Umm..I think it's time we get your wounds cleaned and replace the bandages, if that's ok with you."  Her timid nature is just so adorable, it caused me to smile.

"That sounds like a good idea, the stuff I have on now isn't looking too good."  I said as I looked down at my chest.  The gauze was still wrapped securely around my body, but it looked a bit dirty and you could see the blood it had absorbed.  She helped me up and I managed to get out of the bed.  The pain wasn't nearly as bad as last night, but it was still bad enough to make it difficult to move.

We took it very slowly down the stairs, I made sure my balance was good after every step so I wouldn't end up falling down.  Once we made it to the bottom of the stairs, she led me across the living room to a door in the back right corner.  She opened the door and we entered into what looked to be her bathroom.  There was a tub in the middle of the room against the back wall.  A sink and mirror was to my right, and a cabinet of what I would assume to be bathroom supplies on the left.

"Here, let me get the water started."  She said while flying over to the tub.  While I was waiting for it to fill up, I decided to ask Fluttershy something.

"Hey Fluttershy,"  she turned to looked at me with her lovely cyan eyes, "You called that thing that attacked you a Timberwolf right?  What is that exactly?"

She thought about the wooden predator for a second, "I'm honestly not too sure, all I know is that they’re vicious creatures who live in the Everfree forest.  Nopony knows where they came from, not even princess Celestia herself.  The only thing she did know was that they were created by a powerful magic a long time ago."

"So what were you doing in the Everfree forest if you knew it was so dangerous?"  Knowing how afraid she could be sometimes, it didn't seem like her to just walk into such a place.

"Um well, some of the baby chicks I have in the pen out back got out and ran into the forest.  I didn't want to go in there, but I had to bring them back safe.  I searched everywhere for them but they were nowhere to be seen.  Not long after that the Timberwolf jumped out of the bushes.  Ohh I sure hope the chicks are alright."  She looked back to the tub and saw that it was almost full, quickly she walked over and shut the water off.  "The water's nice and warm," she said after dipping her hoof in the water, "I'll go grab some supplies while you get in."  I nodded as she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

Now that I had some privacy, I began to unbutton my pants.  Pulling them off along with my socks and boxers.  Standing next to the tub, I dipped my finger in the water, it felt warm and soothing.  I stepped in and lowered myself into the relaxing water.  Because of my size though, most of my upper body stuck out of the water.

After a few seconds, I heard a knock on the door.  "Come in!"  I called.

Fluttershy opened the door and peeked in to make sure I was in the tub before entering fully.  She approached the side of the bathtub holding a washcloth and roll of gauze in her mouth.  She put them down and began to remove the gauze that was wrapped around me.  The process was pretty slow, as she was making sure to not reopen the wound.   After the whole thing was off, I looked to my chest.

The claw mark was a very dark red, the blood hardened over the openings.  Some dried blood was smeared across my chest, the whole sight was pretty gruesome.  Fluttershy reached down and picked up the washcloth, getting it wet with the bathwater she started gently wiping the gashes.  I winced a little at the pain, though it was not nearly as bad as before.

"Sorry, I can stop if it hurts too much."  She said, a look of concern in her eyes.

"No it's fine, I just wasn't expecting it.  It's not that bad really."  I tried to reassure her and it seemed to work as she became more relaxed.

We didn't say much after that, though Fluttershy did start to hum a little song.  Once she had finished cleaning my wound, I washed myself off a bit.  Fluttershy had a variety of different nature scented shampoos and conditioners.  I picked one I liked and rubbed it into my hair, the scent smelling like flowers.

Fluttershy looked away as I got out.  She handed the towel to my general direction and I dried myself off.  Grabbing my clothes, I put them back on.  I still wasn't wearing a shirt because the one I was wearing before got ripped up.  I tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder and she turned around.  Once I was in her sights, her gaze immediately went to my exposed upper body.  She just stared at me for a while, probably trying to take in all my features.  Not liking the extra attention, I spoke up, "So, how long do you think this will take to heal?"

This seemed to snap her back to reality.   "Um...I-I would say a few days, I have a potion I got from my friend Zecora that can help you heal faster."  She opened the first aid kit and pulled out a small glass bottle with a blue substance in it.

She handed me the bottle and I took it, although I trusted Fluttershy, this potion looked a bit suspicious.  "So...do I just drink this?"  She nodded and motioned for me to go ahead.  I was a bit hesitant to consume the unknown liquid, but if it really does have healing capabilities, then it would be really useful.  I removed the cork that was sealing the bottle, and slowly brought the opening to my lips.  Tilting my head back, I downed the whole thing in one gulp.  It was a bit thicker than water, but was tasteless.

I felt a small surge flow through my body, I looked at my chest and saw that the deep gashes that were previously there had been reduced to smaller cuts.  "Wow that stuff really works!"  The almost instant healing effect of the potion was unbelievable, something that humans could only wish they had.

"Now you should be healed in a few days, though I think we should wrap you up again just to be safe...if that's ok with you that is?"  Fluttershy said while sheepishly pointing to the roll of gauze.

"Yeah I think that would be a good idea.  Even though it's not that bad now, I don't want it to get worse."  I looked back at my chest, the scratch was pretty small now, but It could still reopen and get infected.

She picked up the roll and unraveled it.  I held the end to my body and she flew around me, the whole process went quicker than last time now that I was able to help.  She taped off the end when she was done, the gauze was wrapped securely around my body.

Next I looked to my right hand, it was still wrapped up and I could not move it very well.  Fluttershy helped get it off and threw the used gauze out.  My hand was pretty swollen.  The area around my knuckles was bruised and had changed a very nasty shade of blue and yellow.  I couldn't move it much, the pain was just too much for me to handle.  "Well that doesn't look good."  I said pointing out the obvious.

"Oh my, that looks painful."  She said as her worry began to return.

"It's not that bad, it hurts, but I can manage just fine."  I tried to reassure her, I didn't want her feeling guilty for my injuries.

This seemed to do the trick as her worry look began to fade, “Well..ok, we should probably wrap it back up though."  She then wrapped my hand with new gauze.  “There!  You’re all done.”  She said a with a smile.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I-”  as I was about to continue, my stomach began to growl.

Fluttershy giggled a bit, “hehe, sounds like you’re hungry.  Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll get breakfast started.” I nodded and she drained the bath.  We both walked out of the bathroom and across the living room.  Right past the base of the stairs was another door.  We walked in and I found myself in a kitchen.  It was a pretty basic kitchen, the walls were yellow and green, there was a table in the middle of the room and countertops, a sink, a stove, and a fridge all lined the walls.

“You can have a seat while I make the food, if you want.”  She said as she opened the fridge and grabbed some ingredients.

I looked at the table, it was the same height as the others I have encountered.  Taking a seat on the floor, I waited while watching as Fluttershy started cooking.  The smell of eggs and hashbrowns soon filled my nose.  My stomach growled at the wonderful scent.

Not too long after, Fluttershy turned the stove off and placed both our plates on the table, “this looks amazing Fluttershy, and I bet it tastes even better!”  I said while taking a bite.  “Mmm!  This is delicious!”  The flavor just exploded in my mouth, my taste buds in complete bliss.

"Oh, thank you!  I'm so glad you like it!"  A very satisfied smile on her face.

We ate the rest of the meal in silence, each bite as delicious as the last.  Once we finished, Fluttershy took both plates to the sink and washed them off, I offered to help but she said that I should relax and that she didn't mind doing it.

I was about to ask her what we would do next when there was a sudden knock on the front door.  Looking to Fluttershy, She had a very puzzled look.  "I wasn't expecting company, I wonder who that could be?"  She said as she made her way out of the kitchen, as curious as she was, I got up and followed.

She opened the top half of the front door, it was the first time I had ever seen a door like it.  A head shot into the house and I found it belonged to Rainbow Dash.  "Hey Fluttershy, you wanna come see my new tricks?"  She said in her tomboyish voice.  Her glance went from the yellow mare to me, "oh hey Chris what are you..."  She stopped, her mouth open as she looked at my bandages, "whoa!  What happened to you?"

I was about to say something, but Fluttershy spoke up, "I was out in the Everfree forest and a Timberwolf attacked me, I thought I was done for, that is, until Chris came to protect me."  She looked at me with a grateful smile.

Rainbow seemed to love the whole thing as she did a small backflip while still managing to hover in the doorway, "that's so awesome!" She seems to get a lot of thrill from action.  Flying over to me she gave me a slug in the right shoulder, "only been in Equestria a week and you're already getting in fights.  In my eyes, you just became 20% cooler!"  I rubbed my shoulder, though she didn't hit me that hard, it was still a bit sore from yesterday.

Rainbow then flew out of the cottage and hovered right outside the door, "so Waddaya say Fluttershy, wanna come see my new tricks?"

"Oh I would love to, but unfortunately I can't.  You see, I have to feed all my little animal friends breakfast."  Fluttershy said, her expression a bit sad due to the fact she could not support her friend.  As if on cue, a small white rabbit came hopping up to Fluttershy.  The rabbit tapped her multiple times on her leg and then crossed his arms while tapping its foot on the ground.  The little critter looked very annoyed, I don't think I've ever seen a rabbit make that kind of face.   "Ok Angel, I'll go get you your carrot."  Fluttershy said, smiling at the anxious bunny.

I turned my attention back to the cyan pegasus hovering just outside the door, “I could go watch your tricks if you want.”  I said.  Rainbow was the last friend on my list of ponies to hang out with and this would be a great way for us to spend time with each other.

“Sure!  Come on you’re gonna love them!”  She replied, waving for me to follow as she started to float away from the door.

Not wanting to just disappear and worry her, I quickly went into the kitchen and told Fluttershy I was leaving.  We thanked each other and shared a small hug before I made my way outside.  Rainbow was still pretty close to the house.

“Come on slow poke, I don’t got all day!”  She called while continuing to slowly hover away from the cottage in the direction of Ponyville.

“Sorry!” I yelled in response as I broke into a jog to catch up with her.  I waited till I was right next to her to start a conversation, “so where are we going exactly?”

"To Ponyville park, its usually where I practice new tricks."  She said while matching her hovering speed to my walking pace.

We walked for a bit, the park wasn't that far.  It was about half way between Fluttershy's cottage and Twilight's library.  It looked exactly how I expected it to, a fairly open area with the occasional tree here and there.  There were a few bushes and flower beds about and a white bench on the edge of a patch of dirt that looked to be the parks center.  Dirt paths branched off from the center and into town.

Rainbow led me to a small hill not too far from the parks center, a tree on the hill provided some shade.  We stopped at the top and she turned to me, "ok, are you ready for the most amazing, most awesomest tricks you’ve ever seen!"  She said,  Her expression a mixture of excitement and confidence.

"Sure, you go ahead.  I'm gonna get a front row seat."  I said while taking a seat in the shade.  By the time I looked up, Rainbow was already flipping and diving high up in the sky.  She was moving so fast, my eyes had a hard time following her.

I sat there for what felt like an hour, just watching the cyan pegasus fly around.  One interesting thing I noticed was that at really high speeds, she leaves behind a rainbow streak in the air (how fitting).

The grass felt so comfortable that its softness began to make me a little drowsy.  My eyes started feeling heavy, each second making it harder to stay awake.  Right as I was about to doze off, Rainbow came flying in and landed in front of me.  Her presence startled me and caused me to wake up.

"So whaddaya think?  Wasn't that awesome!"  She said, not even a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

"That was pretty neat, I don't think I've ever seen anything fly as fast as you can."

"Thanks, I just wish the Wonderbolts knew that.  If they did, they would totally let me in."  I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but it obviously made her frustrated.

"I heard Rarity mention the Wonderbolts before, who are they?"

This seemed to shock her, "you don't know who the Wonderbolts are?" She was in complete disbelief.

"Well, I have only been in Equestria for a week."  She seemed to ignore my rebuttal.

"The Wonderbolts are only the best fliers in all of Equestria.  I dream that one day they will let me join.  I know I'm good enough, they just haven't noticed it yet."  Her passion for the group was clearly heard in her words.

“With the talent you have with flying, I’m sure you'll get in.  You just have to be patient.”  I said trying to comfort her.

It seemed to work as she sprung up into the air and hovered a few feet above me, “Yeah, they’re going to notice me for sure!  I’m way too awesome for them not to.”  I shook my head, not only did her spirits return, her ego did too.

We talked for a few more minutes.  Eventually, Rainbow said she needed to be somewhere and I waved goodbye as she took off towards Sweet Apple Acres.  Once she was out of sight, I looked in the direction of Twilight’s.  (I should probably get home, I’m pretty tired and I’m sure Twilight is back and wondering where I’m at).

I began the walk to the library.  I got a few odd looks from the local ponies, though I would assume it was because I wasn’t wearing a shirt and was wrapped in gauze.  Twilight’s house wasn’t that far from the park so I got there fairly quickly, the walk only taking about three minutes.  I opened the front door and stepped in, Twilight was pacing in the living room with a worried look.  It was only after I closed the door behind me that she finally noticed me.

“Chris!”  She ran up to me, a smile on her face, “I came home and couldn’t find you anywhere, Spike said that he hadn’t seen you either and I started to get worried-” she froze once she saw the bandages wrapped around my chest and right hand.  “W-what happened?  Are you ok?”  Her worry instantly returned.

I kneeled down so that I was about her height.  Leaning forward, I pulled her into a hug, “I’m fine Twilight, really.”  After reassuring her, she wrapped her forehooves around me and held me tightly.

The hug lasted a while but she finally broke it, "what happened?"  She said in a gentle, but concerned tone.

I gave a nervous chuckle as I remembered the events of yesterday, "well, I went to Rarity's and spent the morning with her.  After that, I went to Fluttershy's but she wasn't there when I knocked.  I heard a scream coming from the Everfree forest so I went in to investigate.-"

"You went into the Everfree forest?  By yourself!?"  Twilight interrupted.

"I didn't know it was dangerous at the time."  I said, trying to continue with my story, "anyways, I walked around for some time before I finally found Fluttershy, who was cowering from a Timberwolf that was about to attack."  Twilight gasped, and I continued, "right as it jumped at her, I came in and charged it.  We fought for while and it managed to scratch me pretty good on the chest.  After I knocked it out, Fluttershy saw I was injured and rushed me to her cottage.  She patched me up and let me sleep there since there was no way I was going to get home at the time."  Twilight was shocked, her face was priceless.

"You fought a Timberwolf and saved Fluttershy?  That was so brave of you."  She gave me a small smile, but she was still concerned.  "So what happened today, you've been gone all morning?"

I told her about my morning with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.  She always seems to be interested in anything I say.  As I finished, I let out a yawn.  I was still pretty tired and the rest would be good for healing.  "I think I'm gonna go take a nap."

Twilight nodded and I went to walk upstairs.  Before I could get far I heard Twilight call my name,  "um...Chris?"  I turned to face her, she was looking at the floor and nervously swiping at the ground with her hoof, "c-could I maybe...join you?  The trip back from Canterlot was pretty exhausting."  She looked up at me, seeming pretty embarrassed.

Her request caught me off guard.  (Even though she has her own bed, she wants to sleep with me?  I did enjoy sleeping next to Fluttershy last night, so I guess I wouldn't mind.)  "Sure" I said, motioning for her to follow.  She smiled and we both walked upstairs to my room.

Looking around my room, I felt a sense of comfort.   Not really thinking, I began to undress, stopping immediately once I remembered the purple unicorn behind me.  She had been watching me, I turned to her feeling a bit embarrassed, "sorry, force of habit.  I normally don't wear clothes to bed."

Twilight blushed a bit, "no it's ok, I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

I nodded and carefully removed my jeans, Twilight watching intently.  Her blush deepened once I was just in my boxers.  "Alright, ready?"  I said.  Twilight just nodded, her cheeks were still pretty red.

We both walked over to the bed and I got in first, pulling back the blanket and laying down on the right side.  Twilight followed suite and laid on the left side.  I pulled the blanket over us and Twilight moved over till she was up against me.  She nuzzled her face into my shoulder and draped one foreleg over my stomach.  I returned her cuddle by wrapping my left arm around her.

We just laid there for a while, the warmth of our bodies very soothing.  Feeling so comfortable, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I felt something next to me move, opening my eyes I saw Twilight just beginning to wake up as well.  She groggily opened her eyes, she looked pretty adorable.  “Hey there sleepyhead.”  I said as I started to stretch.  Twilight slowly sat up, she was unsteady due to her just waking up.

“Hi Chris, did you sleep well?”  She mumbled.

I sat up and got out of bed, “yeah, I feel much better now.  Though you look like you could sleep a little longer.”  I said looking at the groggy mare.

“No I’m fine.  Sometimes it just takes me a second to get up.  Are you hungry?”  She managed to recompose herself, her normal look returning.  Thinking about it, I was pretty hungry.  I looked out the window and saw that it was sometime in the evening.

“Sure, what did you have in mind?”  I said turning my attention back to her.

“Well, I was thinking we could go grab something from Sugarcube Corner.”  She hopped out of bed, her tired look completely gone.

“That sounds great, I’ll meet you downstairs in a little bit.  I need to get dressed.”

Twilight nodded and exited the bedroom.  I closed the door behind her and went over to my dresser.  Pulling out new boxers, jeans, and a grey shirt with very thin horizontal stripes, I got dressed.  I grabbed a new pair of socks and put them on as well, walking to the door and heading down to Twilight.

She was waiting by the front door.  A smile spread across her face as she noticed me walk down the stairs, “All ready to go?”  She said.  I nodded and we both left the library.  The walk to Sugarcube Corner was pretty uneventful.  Twilight and I just talked a bit and I got a few waves from local ponies.

It took about 15 minutes for the edible looking building to come into view, the sight of it making my stomach growl.  We walked up to the front door.  Twilight’s horn began to glow as the door opened with her magic.  She motioned for me to enter, not wanting to protest, I stepped inside.

Looking around, I saw many familiar faces.  “Surprise!” They all yelled at once.  I jumped in shock, definitely not expecting it.  Standing in the main room of Sugarcube Corner was Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the princesses themselves.

I was just about to speak when a pink figure shot in front of my face, the direction coming from above me.  Giving my eyes a second to adjust to the close range, I quickly came to the realization that the figure was none other than Pinkie Pie.  “Hiya Chris, did you like your surprise?”  She said.   Another thing I noticed about her was that she was upside down.  Looking up I saw that she was standing on my head and looking down at me.  How I hadn’t felt her weight on my head, I have no idea.

“Hehe, I sure did Pinkie, now...do you mind getting off me?”  I chuckled, the rest of the group joined in as well.  Pinkie hopped off my head and landed next to me.  “Not to be rude, but why exactly did you throw this party?”  I asked.

Pinkie looked up at my with a big smile, “today marks your first week in Equestria, so I knew I totally had to throw you a ‘happy first week in Equestria party’!”  Her need to throw a party for every little occasion made me laugh.

“Well thank you, this is great.” I replied.  Walking towards everyone, they all greeted me.  The sight of all the friends I have made since coming here was amazing.  I don’t think I ever had this many people back home who were this close to each other.

While I was away in my thoughts, Princess Luna came running up to me, her sister following at a much more normal pace.  Luna practically jumped at me, the impact knocking me back to reality.  Barely managing to maintain my balance, I looked down at the princess of the night who was holding my stomach in a tight embrace.  Kneeling down, I wrapped my arms around her.  “Oh how I have missed you dear friend.”  She said, her excitement very obvious.

“I’ve missed you too Luna, but it has only been three days since we last saw each other.”

She looked up at my a small frown on her face, “yes, and believe me when I say those were the three longest days of my life.”  Her words really put the meaning of our friendship into prospective.  I knew that she valued me as a friend, but not this much.

We hugged for a bit longer, it broke around the time that Princess Celestia walked up next to us.  "Hello Chris, it's so nice to see you again."  She said in her motherly tone.

Standing up, I greeted the white alicorn.  "It's great to see you too Princess Celestia, how are you doing?"

"I'm just fine thank you, how about you?  How has your first week in Equestria treated you?"

"It's been great!  Everyone’s been so nice and for the most part, things are pretty peaceful.  Back on my world, there is lots of crime, war, death, poor leadership, and terrible people.  Most of the good things that happen there are overshadowed by all the bad, which makes it seem even worse."  My description of earth caused her to frown.  But as I continued, she began to brighten up again.  "Coming to Equestria is probably one of the greatest things to ever happen to me.  It's amazing here and the friends I've made are some the best I’ve ever had.”  Taking another look around at all my friends, I watched them all as the enjoyed the party.

A little lost in thought, Celestia spoke up and I snapped back to our conversation, “I heard about how you saved your friend from a Timberwolf in the Everfree forest.  That was very noble of you.”

A little blush appeared on my cheeks from her compliment.  Everyone seems to think it was a major act of bravery, but I just didn’t want Fluttershy to get hurt.  “Thanks, but I just couldn’t let that thing hurt Fluttershy.  If any of my friends got hurt, I don’t think I could handle it.  I am by no means a fighter, I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone.  But when that Timberwolf attacked her, I just kinda rushed in without thinking.”

Celestia gave me a kind smile, “never the less, putting yourself in harms way for the protection of others is the most noble cause there is.”  Her words honored me, I felt so touched that I leaned in for a hug.  She met me halfway and we embraced, though it only lasted a little bit, it felt nice.

“Thank you princess Celestia that means a lot.”  I said as we broke the hug.

“No, thank you Chris.  I too would not want to see any harm come to my subjects.  I’m so glad you were there to help.”  She responded, her smile never leaving.  As we stood there, my stomach suddenly growled.  Celestia giggled and pointed me to the snack table that had been set up for the party.  I thanked her and made my way over to it.

There was a big assortment of food, looking at the long table I saw a plate of cupcakes, some apple fritters that I’m assuming Applejack brought, a bowl of chips, a plate of mini sandwiches, and a small bowl of different flowers.  Everything looked great except for the flowers, grabbing a plate I started to pick out what I wanted.  I grabbed one of the apple fritters, a sandwich, and some chips.

While I was getting food, Applejack came up next to me, “howdy Chris, like’n the party so far?”

Turning to face the orange mare, I smiled, “I love it, this has got to be one of the best parties I’ve have ever been to.”

“Yup Pinkie sure is good at throw’n parties” she said,  We both looked at our pink friend who was now dancing around and having the time of her life.  We both laughed at the sight and Applejack turned to look at me again, “if ya’ll get thirsty, I brought some our delicious Sweet Apple Acres cider.”  She pointed to a large barrel that was sitting at the end of the snack table.  “Just help yourself.”  I thanked her and she nodded before walking back to the other party goers.

Grabbing a glass, I poured myself some cider from the spigot that was in the side of the barrel.  All the tables that were here before had been removed to provide space for the party, so I took a seat on the floor against the wall.  Setting down my glass of cider, I got to work on my food.  The sandwich was great, having some lettuce, tomato, and cheese on it.  I finished my chips and moved on to the apple fritter, it was delicious.  I took a sip of the cider that was next to me, as soon as it made contact with my mouth, I tasted its sweetness.  It was very smooth and the apple flavor was just perfect.  loving the taste, I downed the rest of the glass.  feeling satisfied with the meal, I got up and put my dishes away.

The rest of the night was amazing.  I talked with all my friends and we played some games.  Pinkie put up ‘pin the tail on the pony’ and she went first, somehow managing to switch her tail with the game one.  (Don’t even ask, I have absolutely no idea how she did it.)  The party went on for a few hours.  As it got to be night time, we watched as Luna raised the moon.  Her horn glowed with her dark blue aura and the night sky was created in a matter of seconds.

Not too long after, the party ended.  Everyone said their farewells and began to head home.  Luna and I shared one last hug as her and Celestia said goodbye.  Feeling tired, I thanked Pinkie for the great party and Twilight and I left for home.

It didn’t take long for us to make it back to the library.  Stepping inside we both made our way upstairs.  I walked into my room and was about to close the door when I noticed Twilight was following me.  “Did you need something?” I said.  She seemed a bit nervous, looking at her, I could tell what she wanted.  “Of course you can Twilight, you don’t have to be nervous, I don’t mind.”  She smiled as I turned and got undressed.  She closed the door and we both walked over to the bed.

laying the same way we did earlier, she snuggled up to me and I wrapped my left arm around her.  As we drifted off to sleep, she nuzzled her head on my shoulder, “I’m so glad you came to Equestria.  Good night Chris…”  She mumbled as we both fell asleep.

Chapter 1

“Alright good!”  I said with mild excitement, “Now, who in the class can tell me the answer to number 4?”  I faced the whiteboard that was next to me and looked at the problem written.  It was a very simple multiplication question, 2 X 12.  Pointing at the question I turned my head to look back at my class.

Several students raised their hands, I pointed to one in the middle right-hand side of the class.

“24.” Said the child in an almost questioning tone waiting for me to reassure him that it was the right answer.

“Correct, 2 X 12 is 24, great job!” I replied with a happy tone.

Oh...I probably should introduce myself.  My name is Chris Marsh, Although my students call me Mr. Marsh.  I’m 28 years old and a 6th grade math teacher.  As for what I look like, I am 6 foot tall, I have short dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a medium build.  Teaching was something that I wanted to do towards the end of my high school years, so I decided to pursue it in college.  As of two years ago I got a teaching job at a school not to far from where I live now.  I love working with the students, and being able to pass my knowledge onto them makes me feel successful in life

I moved on to the next question.  “What about number 5?”  Just then the sound of gunshots and a few screams rang from the hall outside my classroom.  Everyone jumped suddenly and terrified looks began to appear on the students faces.  I urged everyone to remain calm and to move to the back corner of the room, away from the door.  Once all the students were safely hidden from view, I slowly made my way to the door and peeked through the window.

Looking through the window I saw a man wearing a long, dark gray trench coat pointing a gun at some cowering students in the hallway, his back facing me as his full attention was on the kids.  The look of fear and horror on the children's faces made my mind kick into overdrive.  I knew that if I did not act fast, the kids would surely be killed.  With nothing else on my mind but the children held at gunpoint, my adrenaline started to flow.

Without much thought I opened the classroom door as quietly as I could to avoid detection.  The gunman was only a few feet from where I was. With adrenaline still pumping through my body I quickly closed the gap between us.  One of the children noticed me and soon all of them were looking my way.  The gunman realizing something was behind him quickly turned to see what it was.

Right as the gunman made eye contact with me I sent my right hand towards him in a powerful punch, my fist striking him in the side of the head.  As my I made contact, he pulled the trigger of his gun in defense.  Feeling no pain I knew the bullet must have missed and I quickly swung my left hand around in the same form that I had done with my right.  With two powerful blows to the head he Immediately dropped to the floor unconscious.

Realizing that the gunman had been subdued I began to feel the adrenaline leave my body.  I looked up at the kids in front of me finding that they were unharmed.  The weird part was that even though the gunman was unconscious, they still had looks of horror on their faces.  With all the adrenaline out of my body I began to breathe heavily as reality began to come back to me.

I went to move forward to check on the kids and cringed as I felt searing pain shoot through my body.  I gritted my teeth and dropped to my knees, placing my hand on my chest.  Looking down I saw that my shirt was drenched in blood as I felt the warm, sticky fluid flow out of my body and quickly covered my hand.  It then occurred to me that I had been shot but did not feel it at the time because of my adrenaline.

I applied more pressure to my wound to try to stop the blood flow, but soon began to feel very weak from the startling amount of blood that I had already lost.  My vision became blurred and my mind started spinning as I fell to the floor.  Muffled screams filled my ears as everything seemed to fade.  The last thing I saw was a crowd of blurry figures standing around me and what I assumed to be a paramedic kneeled down next to me before everything faded to black.

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Darkness filled my vision, an empty void. Am I dead?  My thoughts running through my head.  Some of my senses began to return.  I felt a slight breeze blow by and a softness on my back.  As more feelings began to return I noticed that I was laying down on my back on what appeared to be grass.  Am I outside?  The faint sound of nature and the soft whoosh of the wind filling my ears.

I laid there for a while letting my body return to its normal state.  I slowly began to open my eyes,  immediately being blinded by the bright sunlight.  I quickly shut my eyes to try and stop the new burning sensation behind my eyelids.  After the pain faded I tried again, opening my eyes slowly and letting them adjust to the bright light.

I tried sitting up, but found it very hard to move.  All my energy not fully returned.  I laid there for a few minutes and felt my body regain some of its energy.  I lifted my upper body, pushing off the ground with my arms.  After some struggle I finally made it to a sitting position.

I looked around, taking in my surroundings.  I was sitting in a open area right outside of a forest.  The forest was behind me, it had a very dark look and feel to it, the sounds of animals came from somewhere deep inside.  In front of me was a very quaint looking village that had an older feel to it.  The buildings were made from wood with straw roofings.

I looked down at myself, checking to make sure I was alright.  I then came to a startling realization as my memories poured back into my head.  I had been shot!  Did I die?  No, If I died then why would I be awake right now?  I looked down at my clothes, noticing that they were the same ones that I was wearing when I was shot.  Navy blue collared shirt and a pair of blue jeans.  Not very professional I know, but I’m a 6th grade teacher not a college professor.

I looked at the spot on my chest where I had been shot.  The hole and blood stain that were there before was gone.  I lifted my shirt up to check my chest.  To my amazement there was no sign of the wound, not even a scar.  I lowered my shirt and started to stand up.  Slowly rising to my feet and feeling a little off balance.  I soon stood straight up, the blood leaving my head as I felt the rush.  I stood there for a few seconds to let my body return to normal.  Taking wobbly steps forwards I slowly began to regain my composure.

Deciding to find out where I was, I began to walk towards the small town.  I found a dirt path not too far from where I was and followed it into town.  After what I assume to be about five minutes of walking.  I came to a small bridge that allowed me to cross a creek.  The bridge seemed to act as a sort of entrance to the village.  I continued over the bridge and entered the villages outskirts.

I continued walking as I kept look out for any people that I could talk to.  My eyes still searching I noticed many small horses roaming around.  The weird part was that they were all a varying range of colors.  I saw blues, greens, reds, oranges, pinks, pretty much any color you can think of.

As I was thinking to myself about this weird phenomenon I was looking at, I heard someone scream right next to me.

“Monster!”  I looked around and heard multiple screams, but was still unable to find any people.  All of the horses began to run around in mass panic, running into the nearby buildings with the doors slamming behind them.  In a matter of seconds, the whole town was quiet and deserted.

“Well that was odd”  I spoke aloud talking to no one in particular but myself.  I wandered the streets some more still trying to find someone who could tell me where I was.  After a few minutes I caught a glimpse of a flash of light from the corner of my eye.

“Stop right there!”  Shouted a stern feminine voice from behind me.  I quickly turned to meet the person that was talking to me, only to be disappointed with what I found.  In front of me where more horses, it looked like there were six of them.  They were standing side by side with angry looks on their faces.  I didn’t even know horses could make faces like that.   All of them were wearing some sort of jewelry, five were wearing necklaces and one was wearing a...tiara?  The one with the tiara took a step forward.

“Be ready if it tries anything girls.”  Seeing her lips move caused my whole body to jump in shock.  D-d-did she just talk?  My head started to hurt, my body started to tense up.  Hundreds of questions were now racing through my mind.

I tried to speak but the immense shock I was feeling left me speechless. The look on their faces told me they were looking for a fight and I knew that in my current mental state I would be completely useless in combat (not that I would be good anyway.)  My fight or flight instincts kicked in and my conscious was screaming at me, RUN.

Not wanting to be where I was standing any longer, I quickly snapped around and broke into a full out sprint.

“It’s makin’ a break fer it, after it!”  I heard another one yell from behind me.  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, not knowing where I was headed.  I knew that horses were fast and that it was going to take all my strength to outrun them.  I made a few turns trying to lose them, though I wasn’t going to look back to know if I had.

For minutes I ran , the chase continuing and my legs were starting to burn from the intense use.  I turned another corner, my breathing was very heavy.  I knew that I would not be able to keep this up for too much longer.

Looking over my shoulder to see if my pursuers were still there, I noticed them turn the corner and catch a glimpse of me.  I turned my head to look in front of me, and immediately felt something very hard hit me in the face.  Whatever I had just ran into had knocked me out cold and my unconscious body fell to the ground.