Author's Note

Rewritten slightly for all you critics. If it still ain't right for you then please point me in the direction of someone who can help me in this regard or knows how to write a good HiE fanfic. Because this being my first one, I sure as heck don't.

Thank you.

A New World

Harry blinked. Twice. Nothing felt realistic anymore. By whatever calculations his painful brain could make, he’d fallen at least four thousand feet. Yet here he lay, still alive and well. But the weirdest thing was that he was still in a tunnel – only this one was a lot shorter and did have a believable exit with actual light coming in from it.

Picking up his achy body, Harry felt more uncertain and distressed than ever, his grazed arm throbbing. “Screw you bloody skin,” he muttered, walking to the exit.

Coming out of the tunnel’s end, Harry found himself in a totally different landscape. In fact, the “tunnel” was more of a cave, and plants of all kinds surrounded it. Scanning the surrounding area, he figured he was now in a forest of sorts, with tall trees, interestingly shaped bushes, and…a trail.

This ain’t San Francisco at all, he instantly realized. I must be lost. But what about my home? My mother, my…

For the next few minutes Harry’s brain was in a total frenzy, as it was overloaded with questions, panic, and uncertainty.

“If there existed such a thing as teleportation via falling into a black pit, then I sure as heck have experienced it,” Harry thought, as he finally chilled out and picked his way through the foliage and started to walk down the trail, hoping it would lead him to a town or house of some sort where he could figure out everything.

If it wasn’t such a serious situation of figuring out where you were, this would be the most relaxing and peaceful walk Harry had had in a long time in his life. The flowers, bushes, and trees, along with the birds, squirrels and rabbits moving about reminded him of Bambi – one of his favorite childhood movies.

After a good fifteen minute-walk, Harry came upon a small stream, and heard the sound of a few animals – chickens, various small birds, rabbits, and even mice. As he continued on the sound became louder and more significant.

“Sounds like a farm,” he thought. “But who in God’s name would have a farm right next to a forest?”

Shrugging, Harry kept walking, slowing his pace due to tiredness. But as he came up a small gradient, the sight of what lay just ahead fascinated him.

A small house – like a round-topped cottage – stood at the forest’s edge, with a fenced-in area next to it. Within the fenced area stood several animals which he’d heard earlier.

“This doesn’t look human-like to me at all,” Harry scoffed. “Am I in a childish dreamland or something?” A hard self-knock to the head proved his theory wrong.

“Okay, dude, you need to stop hurting yourself,” Harry snapped to himself. “You’ve failed on your skate trick, fallen down a pit, and now you’ve almost knocked yourself over doubt of the realism of the present surroundings. Get a grip and figure it out!”

Leaving the trail behind, he walked through field of trees, towards the cottage. Maybe its owner had some answers to all the questions he had, the biggest one which was WHERE AM I?

After a good party at Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy was looking forward to a nice afternoon picnic with her animal friends.

“There you go, Mr. Mousey,” she said kindly, handing the little mouse some cheese. Soon everyone was eating happily…except for one: Angel Bunny. As usual he was up to his stubborn charades and demanding behavior, and it was up to Fluttershy’s special animal communication capabilities to decipher what he was trying to tell her.

“You’re still hungry?”

Angel Bunny shook his head.

“You want some food from the EverFree Forest?”

Angel Bunny shook his head again, harder this time. To emphasize his point, he jumped over to the window and pointed, poking the glass. Fluttershy finally understood and looked through the window, only to spot a tall, two-legged creature walking out of the forest towards the house.

“Aaaah!” Fluttershy gasped, pulling back from the window and gathering all her animal friend together.

Harry wasn’t sure what to make of the cottage at first. It looked like a quiet, happy, serene place to live – unlike the noisy, cold, claustrophobic place he called home.

Taking note of the dainty little mailbox and the stack of birdhouses, he approached the entrance, and gave a few quiet knocks.

“H-hello?” A soft voice came, and Harry could tell whoever it was, she was shy and anxious. “Anypony there?”

Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t a person who lived here – it was a pony. A pony who was shy and could talk.

“Is that you, Rarity?”

Rarity? Harry wondered, a myriad of questions flooding his mind. Who’s that? So this pony had another friend? How many of them were there? Was it just those two, or was this a whole land dominated by talking ponies?

The door opened and Fluttershy jumped back in shock at the sight of a human at her doorstep.

“Wait!” Harry pleaded, still trying to contain his own shock at the sight of a talking yellow pegasus. “It’s all right. I won’t harm you, I promise.”

Fluttershy carefully crept out from behind the door, and Harry’s patience was really tested.

“Relax,” he whispered. “This is your home, right? You should feel at peace here.”

Fluttershy looked down, then up, shooting him a strange look. “I’ve never seen you before,” she said.

Harry smiled back at her, starstruck by her cuteness and beauty. “I could say the same. May I come in please?”

Fluttershy, now feeling at ease in Harry’s presence, ushered him in. But as she did so, her eyes caught a glimpse of the graze on his arm.

“Omigosh we better get you cleaned up!” she exclaimed, helping him to a couch in the living room.

Harry took off his knapsack and set it down on the cottage’s wooden floor beside his skateboard while Fluttershy ran upstairs. In an instant she was back down with a first aid kit, rubbing alcohol, a pink towel, and a bowl of warm water.

“Thank you very much,” he told Fluttershy as she washed, cleaned, and bandaged his arm. “You’re…very kind. And very beautiful.”

“Oh…thank you,” Fluttershy replied, blushing. “What’s your name by the way?” she asked, putting the final layer of sealant on the bandage.

“Harry. And you?”

“I’m…Fluttershy.”

Harry nodded. The name explained pretty much everything about her behavior the first time they saw each other. But there was one other thing that was nagging his mind.

“When I knocked, you mentioned Rarity. Who’s Rarity?”

“She’s one of my friends,” Fluttershy explained, handing Harry a glass of juice. “She’s a fashionista and a dressmaker – the only one in Ponyville, in fact.”

“Wait a minute.” Harry held up his hand. “So there’s like a whole group of ponies who live in a village near you?”

Fluttershy nodded, before asking a question herself. “You’re a human, right?”

Normally if someone were to ask Harry that question he’d slap them right over the head for asking such a dumb question when it was plainly obvious. But this was a land of ponies, not humans. So he remained calm. “Yes, I am. How did you come across such a term, and how did you know of humans when this is a land of ponies?”

Fluttershy giggled. “One of my friends, who is highly educated and informed of other universes and dimensions read up about them, and passed the info on to me.”

I hope these ponies don’t think badly of me, Harry thought worriedly. As if she scanned his mind, Fluttershy said, “But no worries, we ponies are a friendly bunch. In fact, why don’t I tell my friends to come over for a meet and greet? Sounds good?”

“Yeah…sounds great,” Harry replied, trying not to sound sarcastic. While Fluttershy was calm and collective, the behavior and mannerism of her other friends was still unknown to him.

“Feel free to make yourself comfortable with my animals. I have a sandwich in the kitchen if you’re hungry. See you in a bit!” With that, Fluttershy dashed out the door and ran down the pathway towards Ponyville.