Placefinding

My eyes opened to the same image that had been burned into my memory for the past 365 days. A cold, cavernous crystal roof. The ice-blue crystal walls took a jagged, rough curve inward to create a rotunda-like structure above me. The floor, likewise, was an equally cold deep purple. It was broken up a bit by a rug and some non-crystal furniture, but it still lacked any sense of brightness or life, at least to me.

I rolled out of my bed. I didn't need to check the time, I'd gotten out of bed at the exact same time every day for a year. A mental alarm clock was permanently installed in my brain. I grabbed my clothes from the wooden dresser and trudged across the hall to my bathroom, which thankfully only I used. I turned the shower on to just below scalding hot, undressed, and stepped inside. The hot water and steam temporarily erased the cold feeling of Princess Twilight's daunting crystal castle, and it was usually the highlight of my day, that and the shower I took every night.

I stepped out of the shower, and was immediately disappointed. Despite the thick steam hanging in the air, The crystal floor of the bathroom was still cold, seemingly sucking the warmth right out of me. I wiped off the mirror above the sink and looked at my reflection. Stark blue eyes, which my mom used to say sparkled like the sky, long brown hair, trimmed facial hair of the same color. My face wasn't rugged enough to really be handsome, but not childish enough to look boyish. I remember thinking I looked pretty average back when I lived in Chicago, aside from my noticeably blue eyes, but I hadn't seen another human in a year. The only remotely human-like creature I'd seen since being in Equestria was a minotaur, but it's not really the same... at all.

I took my thick comb made of, guess what, crystal, and ran it through my hair. It was already a bit shaggy when I'd first arrived in Equestria, but I hadn't cut it since, and it was now just past my shoulders. I went a good, long time without shaving, too, but Twilight kept bugging me about it and even Princess Celestia made a comment. I didn't even think I could grow a decent beard in Chicago, so I didn't want to fully get rid of it, so I just trimmed it down and kept it clean. That was enough to shut them up. Thankfully, they didn't care about my hair, probably since the manes of most stallions in Equestria are pretty long, so I haven't done anything to it. Personally, aside from not really caring enough about it to cut it, I kind of like it. It's a reminder that things can still grow and change in something as lifeless as this castle.

Now, as to how I got to Equestria in the first place. Believe me, it wasn't by my decision. First of all, my name is Caleb Stetson. I grew up in Chicago, Illinois. It's a big city in the United States of America, good chance you've heard of it. No, not the part of Chicago where someone gets shot every thirty seconds, but the semi-decent part, if there is such a thing. My mom fell in love with some deadbeat that promised her the world. He got her pregnant with me and left, never to be heard from again. How my mom still loved me as much as she did, I'll never know. She was always there, my rock. I wasn't really made fun of in school, mostly because I flew under the radar. I had a few friends, but none of those stereotypical high school friends that people remember for the rest of their lives.

I made it through high school with a good enough GPA that I got to go to college. It was about the same as high school, just with more studying and stress. I was close enough to home that I could still live with my mom, and she told me every day how proud she was that I was going through university, something she had never done. She worked long hours at an office building as the head of the mailroom. She made decent enough money to keep us going, but we were far from the lap of luxury. I told myself every day that once I got through college and landed a good-paying job that I would support both me and my mom. I would buy her a nice house or apartment and she'd get to retire early. I'd take her on vacations, starting with Paris, where she'd always wanted to visit. She attended my college graduation, and she screamed and hugged me when I told her I got a job at the same office building she worked at, only I was behind a desk, making a good enough starting wage that I'd be able to move out before too long. She took me to a restaurant to celebrate. Then on the drive home, the sedan we were in was hit head-on by a delivery truck going 75.

I woke up in the ER with a cast around my leg and both of my arms, with a doctor telling me I was lucky to be alive. Then he told me my mom was dead. He said she died instantly, painlessly, but that didn't help. It still hurt. Oh, how it hurt. It still does, and it hasn't really lessened, I've just learned to push it back. I know that there are surely healthier ways to deal with it, but I don't have the strength to try. Twilight doesn't even know about it, I didn't tell her. I told her my mom was still alive on earth. I've always been a good liar, although I don't like doing it. I never lied to my mom, under any circumstances. She deserved nothing but the truth.

As far as my new job went, it turned out that my department was a dead-end. I rotted behind that desk for four years, doing the same thing every day in an insufferable routine. Nobody ever got a raise or promoted. The only way people advanced was if they left the company. Nobody would let us into new departments in the same buildings. I stayed where I was. I considered quitting more than once, but I didn't see a reason to move on. I could afford my little apartment, my TV and computer, and all of my necessities. I felt empty, and the same emptiness has filled me ever since. I know I'm probably depressed, but I don't think of it that way. I kept thinking I just needed something in my life to fix it, but I had no idea what.

Everything changed when our department head called me into his office. He was so excited I legitimately thought he was going to soil himself. He told me I was getting promoted to Resource Management. A new desk. A raise. New co-workers. And to top it all off, the Resource Management department was near the top floor and had a great view of the city. I was beside myself. I felt genuinely excited for the first time in four years. But that emotion deflated as soon as I thought of my mom. I wanted to tell her. To tell I was throwing my humiliating dead-end position out the window for something that could serve as a new beginning. But she was gone. I didn't even know if a better job was what I needed to fill the void inside of me. I never got the chance to find out.

When I walked into my apartment that night, there was a round, bright pink light hovering in the middle of my bedroom. I cautiously walked forward to examine it, and it suddenly flew into my face and blinded me. The next thing I know, I'm the middle of a fantasy-looking town I'd later come to know as Ponyville with a purple unicorn looking over my half-conscious form with a worried expression.
That one bizarre, unforeseeable event changed everything permanently. The princesses apparently knew nothing about earth or the pink light that sent me here. Apparently I was the only human in all of Equestria. For once in my life, I was totally unique, and I hated it. Celestia assigned me to Twilight so she could watch over me. So now I was the Friendship Princess's pet. Today marked one year that I'd spent in her castle, learning things from her that I couldn't care less about if I tried. The history of Equestria, Equestria's customs, and, naturally, friendship. As distasteful as this all is, I don't even know if I'd prefer being here or going back. Surely after disappearing for a year, my job opportunity is long gone. I want to view being in Equestria as a fresh start, but it feels like every day is still the same here. Twilight schedules daily lessons (gag me), but other than those I can do whatever I want during the day. Yet I stay in the castle, despite how it seemingly drains the life out of me, and just wander. Maybe it's my fault that my life is so bland, but I don't have any urge to liven it.

I get dressed and exit the bathroom, starting my daily trek down the hall, where I know Twilight is waiting for me with a lesson on friendship at hand. She swears friendship will help me, but I think I might be past help at this point. But it's easier just to humor Twilight. Meetings with Celestia, however, are a bit harder to slog through. One of those was coming up next week, and I'd rather get hit by a train than attend. But as I opened the doors to the giant throne room and saw Twilight sitting at the giant crystal table with a fat stack of notes and a pencil, I knew that when it came down to it, I had few options left in this sad little pony-infested life of mine.