How did things get so strange for me?

Why me?

Where would I go after all this?

Would my family be okay?

These were just a few of the thoughts that zoomed through my head as I snuck into the gas station with my disguise on.

Compared to the usual pit stop locations from the world I was used to, this was quite unfamiliar to me, to say the least. Outside the building, there were things called "gas pumps", and I was completely oblivious as to how they worked. From what I understood about them, they were made to give fuel to the vehicles here in exchange for currency. That much I knew for certain. But when it came to actually using one, I had as much idea as my sort-of mother did.

The inside was filled with other humans. I could tell they were humans because they were similar in body to me. They walked on two legs, had skin rather than fur, and even all wore outfits not unlike the one I was wearing right now.

I had myself covered up in as much clothes as I and my family could gather. I had a big coat on, helped by the fact that it was chilly outside, sunglasses, a "baseball" cap(as it appeared to be called in this world), and rather baggy jeans. In all respects, it was a pretty ridiculous get-up, but in terms of keeping myself hidden from those who might be looking for my family, it did the job well enough.

I went along the aisles of snacks and candies, looking for things for us to eat for the time being before we started making our way further to a more suitable hiding place. We had been running low on food and drink for a while, but thankfully, we managed to scrounge enough of this world's currency to buy some more.

I grabbed several bags of chips, enough to sustain us for a few days. I managed to grab hold of some sodas and juices from the fridge section, and even made sure to get some sweets to satiate one of my mother's friend's sweet tooth. Thinking about her, I reminisced about the times I had spent with her, trying to help her bake for her job, eating some of her cupcakes, and watching her gulp down entire cakes in one bite. As a result, I wondered about how much things had changed since then in such a short time, and whether or not we could fix things....and whether I had to play a big part in it all.

There was only one cashier working at the counter at the moment, so I made my way toward him. At least, I assumed it was a male. He didn't seem to have the grace and caring aura that I usually associated with a female. Behind his back, I could see a wanted poster that had been put up displaying me and my family, and it made me more glad that I was covered up as much as I was. Upon seeing the large amount of food and drink I had in my arms, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Whoa there, that's quite a lot. You must be a hungry guy. Or are you on some kind of errand?" he asked me, clearly trying to make casual conversation. From his voice, I concluded that he was indeed male.

"A little bit of both, I guess," I responded shyly. I was glad that this guy had tried to make jokes out of something like one person buying so much, but I didn't really know what to say. When it came to strangers, I typically found myself unable to think of anything to say to them. It's thanks to this that it was difficult of me to make friends without some heavy encouragement.

The cashier's smile faltered a little at my lackluster reply, then awkwardly said "Well, here's hoping that you get your money's worth, at least." He began ringing everything up, and I watched the money total go up as he did so, slowly getting more and more worried that I wouldn't have the money to pay for all of it.

"And your total is....$19.97."

I brought out the money from my wallet, sifting through the paper bills in my hand and counting them. From what my mother told me, this was the currency that this world used, and it was very simple to use. Unfortunately, it took me a while to get used to the way it worked, with the different coins with names like "pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters", and how they added up to a whole dollar.

Thankfully, the money I had brought out added up to $20, which would leave us with only three cents in change. Paying for the snacks, drinks and candy, I made my way quickly out of the store before the guy could ask me any more questions, whether it be what I looked like under all the clothing or where I was from. I really didn't need any more pressure than I was facing already, nor did I want to risk exposing my family and getting them in trouble.

Around the corner of the gas station, there was what looked like a nondescript van that I made my way to. It was when I opened the back door, the food nearly falling out of my arms, that my family greeted me back.

"Oh, thank Celestia you're back. I'm starving!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, rubbing her belly with her hooves.

"Did you get any candy? My sweet tooth is BEGGING for something...well, sweet!" Pinkie Pie begged, licking her chops at the thought of getting to eat candy.

"I'm just glad that he didn't get caught. Remember, we need to lay low while we're making our way back home," Twilight proclaimed, writing some notes down on a piece of paper with a pen she was levitating.

Fluttershy was silent as she picked out the food she liked, although I could tell from her look at me that she, like Twilight, was glad to see me alive and well. Rarity was too busy trying to sew the materials we found into good enough clothes for all of us on the off chance that we lost the van/carriage and had to travel on foot...or hoof, in their case. Applejack was in the corner, staring blankly at seemingly nothing, clearly thinking about everything she had been forced to leave behind, worried whether she would see any of it again. While these ponies weren't blood related, I still considered them all a part of a family that I had come to know and love over the years.

The inside of the van looked practically nothing like one. Rather than the metal walls that you could associate with one, the inside of this van looked rather like the back end of a horse carriage, and we could even see outside just in case someone tried to inspect us and we had to hide. I thanked Celestia that Twilight knew a spell that could disguise the horse carriage and have it run like a human vehicle.

Now, at this point, fellow human who may be reading this, you might have several questions on your mind as to what is going on. Questions like "How can this human be part of a family when he isn't even a horse?" "What are they on the run from?" "How can a human be so ignorant to the ways of the world other than what was told to him through word of mouth?" "How did they get to this situation in the first place?"

In order to answer those questions, I must start from the beginning of the story, when I was found. But just to get this out of the way: the start of my tale isn't exactly....normal.

Author's Note

Welcome to a story that I had been planning for a while now! I have the general outline for it planned from beginning to end, but it might take a while to get chapters out. Enjoy this intro to the story, and feel free to leave constructive comments, telling me whether or not I can improve and on what!