"Mind telling me if this is Heaven or Hell?"

Rainbow Dash blinked at the creature in confusion as he - for the voice was undoubtedly male - glanced around.

"Though, maybe this is Purgatory..." It mumbled to itself as it stood up and brushed itself off. "There's no angels coming out to greet me, nor is there fire and brimstone..."

"Um... excuse me?" Twilight finally mustered up the courage to speak. "W-who are you? W-what are you?"

The creature glanced at her, confused.

"What, you haven't seen a human before?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"N-no... not at all..."

"Well, guess that rules out the 'Purgatory' theory..." He mused to himself, scratching his neck in contemplation. "Anyway... name's Bastian Kuroyama!" He said, giving her a friendly smile and stretching out his hand towards her.

Twilight carefully reached out and touched it; she'd been to diplomatic meetings with minotaurs before, so she recognized what she was supposed to do with such as gesture... she hoped.

Her hopes were proven correct as he shook her hoof before letting go.

"So... mind telling me where exactly I am?" Bastian asked, glancing around again.

"You're in Equestria, run by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Twilight explained, her nervousness quickly being replaced by enthusiasm - here was a completely foreign creature, something nopony had never even heard of before; just imagine all the information she could get about these 'humans'!

"Huh; a diarchy..." Bastian mused. "Haven't heard about those in quite a long time... do you think they're fair rulers?"

"The fairest we've ever had!" Twilight replied happily, her mood switching from worry to happiness as she thought back to her old teacher. "They've ruled for thousands of years!"

Bastian's eyes widened imperceptibly. Two potential Nen users? Given their age, it was rather likely... And it was even more likely they were extremely powerful.

Glancing around again, he finally noticed the four other ponies staring at him. He awkwardly waved.

"Hi there."

The six mares had eventually decided to bring 'Bastian' back to Ponyville, making sure that he'd be seen with them - it would help assuage any fears the other ponies had, and make them more comfortable with his presence. Plus, it meant Twilight could get some free information from the meet-and-greet.

They all walked in a circle around him as he glanced around at the staring townsfolk, his hands in his hoodie pockets.

Huh... he thought to himself as he analyzed them. They don't appear hostile, but they're definitely wary of me... it would be understandable, since they've apparently never seen a human before, but considering the fact that several of them barricaded their doors the moment they saw me, it would suggest they've been visited by strange creatures before, ones with... less-than-noble intentions. Wonder if any of them are around... Might help me gain their trust if I deal with a few of their problems...

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the winged and horned one named Twilight speaking up.

"Alright, I'm going to go ask Mayor Mare to-"

"I'mgonnagoplanawelcome-to-PonyvillepartyforBazzy!" The one known as Pinkie Pie declared at hyperspeed before rushing off. Bastian blinked in confusion at her antics, but the others seemed to take it in stride - he assumed she probably did things like that often. But... 'Bazzy?'

"As I was saying, I'm going to go ask Mayor Mare to set up a town-wide meeting so we can introduce you to everypony. Until then, though, feel free to wait in the castle." Twilight explained. Bastian nodded in understanding as she turned and headed toward town hall, the rest of the group heading towards her castle.

Off above the Everfree Forest, far enough away from civilization that nobody could notice it, another tear in the sky formed.

Author's Note

For anyone who asks why the ponies know what hands are, I'll quote another story I read: "What do you think minotaurs call them? Meaty grabbers?"

Also, for anyone who is going to ask about Equestria Girls - in this story, it never happened. Forget all about it, because that knowledge will do you no good here.