Author's Note

Carlos's name has been changed to Kira

Where Am I?

The first thing I noticed when I awoke was the unbelievable headache. That, and the fact that I was in a cottage near a forest; and in a soft bed, to be precise. Last thing I remembered was packing my bags to go to my friend Jerry's house. Ugh... What just happened to me?

Wait. I could hear humming, beautiful humming in fact, coming from downstairs. If I could just get out of bed... I realized something must really had happened to me while I was sleeping, because I could not walk for the life of me without my legs getting wobbly. I took two steps and fell face-first with a dull thud. I heard a loud gasp downstairs, followed by hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.

The door to the room slowly creaked open and I heard a soft voice whisper, "I’m glad you’re finally awake. So umm... are you feeling ok?”

"Do I look ok?" I groaned, lifting my head.

For a second, I couldn't believe my eyes. Standing before me was a yellow horse lady wearing a green turtleneck decorated with three pink butterflies and a green skirt. She also had wings, WINGS, She hid her face behind her pink and curly hair and hurriedly apologized.

Due to the fact that she was freaking adorable and well, because I felt bad- I said, "Sorry, could you help me up please?” She helped me straighten back on the bed, carefully lifting me up. It was time to get some answers. "What's your name?”

She shyly replied, "F-Fluttershy."

"Well, my name is Kira." I couldn’t help but feel my introduction was too shallow, so I added, “I’m a human.”

I didn’t know what else to say, and we remained silent for a few moments. Fluttershy was fidgeting in place.

Eventually, she looked at my left eye and asked, trying to sound casual, “N-not like I want to p-pry but, how did you get that scar on your left eye?”

I decided to reply frankly, "I don't really remember, By the way, Fluttershy, where am I?”

"Oh, you're in Equestria."

Equestria… that name, it sounds so familiar! I shook the thought away. "But how did I get here?"

"You mean my cottage or Equestria?”

I motioned my arm vaguely around the room and she got the hint. "I was out tending my animals when I saw a bright glow at the entrance of the E-Everfree Forest.” I noticed the evident trembling in her voice when she named that forest, but opted to ask later and let her continue. "When I went to investigate, I saw you on the ground, covered in scratch marks and bruises and with a big black bag beside you. When you looked at me and fainted, I took you here so you could get better," Fluttershy finished.

"Wait, you took me in without knowing who or what I was?" I said bewildered.

"Well you looked hurt, and I couldn't just leave you there to die."

“But I don't even have any scratches or bruises!"

She gazed at me. "Well, you did have a couple of injuries, but when I brought you in they were suddenly all gone."

I raised an eyebrow at that. How could my injuries just disappear? I let out an unexpected yawn. I hadn’t noticed how sleepy I was. Fluttershy giggled. "Sweet dreams." She left and went downstairs, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I sighed, knowing that this ordeal was probably going to be a pain in the ass. I decided to drop it for the time being and get some sleep. It probably wouldn’t do much to think in this state anyway. I closed my eye and my mind went shut.

Unfortunately, even my dreams were weird that day. I was in a strange forest in front of a very old castle- at least that’s what I thought, considering it looked like no one had been there in centuries. Despite my better instincts telling me to not go near the castle, I walked closer anyway. I stared at the bridge leading to the castle and started having second thoughts. I glanced at the castle again. There was some kind of shimmering dark blue smoke at the entrance. I was watching it intently, when all of a sudden two teal eyes appeared in the smoke and just stood there, looking at me.

I awoke in a flash. What was that, where was I, and why did it feel so real? There were too many questions circling in my head. I had barely noticed I was sweating when I heard the indistinct sound of voices downstairs. I instantly recognized Fluttershy as the next one speaking, "Not so loud, Twilight, Kira could still be sleeping."

“Fluttershy!” I could tell whoever was talking was clearly annoyed and struggling to keep calm. “Are you even listening? This is important!”

There was a moment of what I imagined could only be an awkward silence. Fluttershy’s reply came in a muffled tone, almost whimpering, “I-I don’t know…” She started sobbing lightly. “He seemed like he needed h-help, I c-couldn’t just leave him there.”

Another silence followed. I couldn’t stand hearing Fluttershy like this, what with her kindness and all that, I was trying my best to get out of bed silently when I heard a new voice from downstairs.

“Now now, Dear, don’t be so gloomy. I for one think that was very brave and noble of you.” The voice speaking was refined, almost aristocratic. Do they even have such a thing as aristocracy in Equestria? I grumbled inwardly. Something about that word -Equestria- echoed deep inside of me, but I had no idea why.

“Yeah, I’m with Rarity!” chirped a bubbly voice. “You were really really brave and kind and unselfish because you never thought about yourself you just went straight to help like what if he turned out to be a monst-”

“Pinkie!” snarled another voice, this one sounding kinda tomboyish. “Great job and all ‘Shy, but could we just go and see your ‘Hooman’ now? I can’t wait to show him my latest moves, he’ll flip out!”

The next voice spoke with a distinct southern accent, “I reckon we’ll meet him soon, Sugarcube. Ya’ll done with the lecturin’ I hope, Twilight?”

My body tensed and I snapped right back into attention. The conversation downstairs had suddenly died out. I could feel how much was on the line, pending on the next words, until finally an audible sigh broke the silence.

“Girls, you have to understand, there hasn’t been a human in Equestria since... forever! I couldn’t even find proper research material, just a few old legends and the few things Celestia told me.” She paused for a moment before resuming, “I’ll admit I want to meet him too, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for research, after all. Just... remember to be careful until we find out more. Please?”

I let out a sigh in relief; at least I wasn’t being rejected out of the blue. There was no point in delaying it further, then, so I decided to fake a loud yawn and see if they would hear it.

"Oh, it sounds like he's awake," said the aristocratic voice.

"Now girls, please be careful. He seemed a bit confused when he met me, so let's try not to overwhelm him," Fluttershy told them. I heard their footsteps -or maybe hoofsteps?- coming my way. I contemplated jumping out the window out of nervousness, but rejected the idea. I still didn't know how I’d gotten here, but maybe they could help me figure that out.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a high-pitched voice. “Hi!”

I looked up and saw six colourful horses had walked into the room. Two of them had horns, two had wings and two had nothing special. Why me? I sighed and looked at the owner of the voice. She was a pink horse-lady, with a curly mane that looked like cotton candy and a matching tail. The wide yellow T-shirt she was wearing showed what looked like three balloons carelessly drawn with red crayons.

I was about to respond, but she started talking very rapidly, "My name is Pinkie Pie, what are you? Where are you from? How di-”

"Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy politely asked us not to overwhelm him, remember?" interrupted the white… unicorn? At least that’s what I thought she was, because of the horn.

I turned to face Pinkie again. "Well, hi Pinkie Pie, my name is Kira, I'm a Human and I'm from Earth; or to be more geologically specific, San Mosura.”

Now that I had a moment to reflect on the mood of the room, I noticed everyone was silent, almost expectant; everyone except Pinkie, of course.

"San Mosura! What's that?" I could have sworn I saw a question mark above her head.

"It’s an island in the Caribbean Sea”

“But Darling, what exactly is an island?”

“Huh? Well, it's a small piece of land in the middle of an ocean or sea.” When I realized who I was talking to, I turned my head to look at the white unicorn. She looked absolutely stunning in that light-blue gown, her well-groomed purple hair casually hanging around her shoulders, nearly hiding the pin with the three blue diamonds. “You must be Rarity."

"How did you know my name?" she asked, looking genuinely confused.

I snickered. "I was listening the whole time you were talking."

The room fell into silence again; worse, it was an awkward silence this time. Sweet Jesus, I’d fucked it up again now, they sure thought I was eavesdropping. Urgh, I had to attempt a save or I was done for.
“Uhm, I mean… you were talking kinda loud and it woke me up, so I may have overheard some things…” It was now or never to change the subject. “Anyway, before you ask any more questions, could I have something to eat, please? If it’s not too much trouble.”

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my goodness, I never asked if you were hungry, I am so very sorry. What can I get you? I'm not familiar with a human’s diet."

Phew, it worked. "Well, I personally prefer meat."

They all looked at me surprised. I looked at them and immediately added "Don't worry, I'm not gonna eat you, I’m not a monster. Besides, where I come from it’s frowned upon to eat horses." At least in most places; not gonna tell them that, though.

"Now wait a second dear, what did you call us?" Rarity asked.

"Horses, why? Isn't that what you are?" I had no idea why she looked so upset.

The violet unicorn cleared her throat. “Ponies and horses are related, but we aren't the same: they were known to be uncivilized brutes, which we are not. Besides, horses disappeared centuries ago and are no longer living in Equestria.

I was lost as to why the hell that was a thing, but I kept my mouth shut and instead tried to think of what food they could have. "Anyway, if you don't have meat, do you have apples or something else?"

"Sure, I'll be right back," Fluttershy said quietly, leaving the room.

I turned to the others. This was my best chance to get through the introductions. "Ok,so I'm already familiar with three of you, but I don’t think I know the name of the rest."

The purple pony recovered first and offered a light smile. "I can’t believe I forgot to even introduce myself.” She chuckled. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m in charge of the library here in Ponyville, and I was hoping-"
Due to my ADD, my eyes wandered around while she was talking. I noticed Twilight was wearing a purple turtleneck with a big magenta star surrounded by smaller white ones. She also had blue jeans on, and her hair had a dark blue hue striped in pink and purple. I couldn’t help but look at her feet- or should I say hooves? Because she didn't have any freaking TOES! I was… more than a bit weirded out. Oh, and also she had a horn, of course...
“-anywhere, actually. And that is basically why I would appreciate if you came over once you start feeling better,” she finished, her smile unfazed. Her eyes were still focused on me, waiting for an answer. I nodded, feeling a bit unsure, but I didn’t get the time to reflect on what I was agreeing to.

"Sup dude! I'm the totally amazing Rainbow Dash, the coolest pegasus in all of Equestria." She flashed a smug grin before giving me a high five.

Rainbow Dash was a blue-skinned... pegasus. She was wearing a jean jacket and an undershirt with a print cloud shooting rainbow-lighting. The best part though was that her hair looked like the goddamn colors of the GODDAMN rainbow.

At last, the one pony I really wanted to meet held out her hand. "Howdy partner, Name’s Applejack.” I took her hand and shook it eagerly. It was covered in a thin layer of fur, very pleasant to the touch.
What could I say about her? She was an orange pony; no wings, no horn, no funny stuff. She had a green shirt wrapped around her hip, and was wearing jean shorts with the image of three apples on the side. Her blond hair was neatly arranged in a ponytail and topped by an amazingly fitting cowboy hat. Hell, even the freckles on her cheeks looked cute.

She let go of my hand and tipped her hat. I smiled. "Nice to meet you all.”

"It was our pleasure.” Twilight’s smile turned into a slight frown. “Although I have to admit I’m curious, where did you get that scar?” I flinched.

"I don't like to talk about it," I said curtly. She must had sensed how annoyed I was, because she took a few steps backwards.

"O-ok, I understand. It’s none of my business.”

I looked at her and forced myself to calm down. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know." I had no idea why that scar bothered me so much either...

Anyway, I may sound like a pervert right now, but earlier I also checked out their chests. It seems Fluttershy tops the group. I don't mean anything by it, it's just my nature to take in every detail of people- or in this case ponies- that I meet. Speaking of Fluttershy, she chose that moment to appear with a bowl of sliced apples. “Uhm… is everypony getting along?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I like them already."

She offered a bright smile and handed me the bowl. I started eating the apples as if I were starving, amazed at the sheer flavor they had, worlds apart from the cardboard ones back home.

When I was done, I sighed in satisfaction. “Those were some good apples.”

"Well, you have Applejack to thank for them," Fluttershy said, gesturing to Applejack.

I turned to Applejack with my best grin. "You take really good care of your apples. They were amazing." She blushed.

"Aw shucks, that's mighty kind, Sugarcube. Ah'll be sure to bring some more.”

"If it’s not too much trouble," I said with a laugh, “I’d lo-”
I paused. They were all looking at me in worry now.

"Kira, dear, are you alright?"

I didn't know what was happening. All of a sudden, I had an odd feeling, like… like something was about to happen. It took all my will, but I shook it off. "Y-yeah... I'm alright."

Twilight looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Twilight, I'm fine," I assured, putting on my best fake smile.

An uncomfortable silence followed, but she eventually shrugged. "Ok, if you say so..."

The mood in the room had dropped down considerably. Wondering how I could light things up, I remembered I still had my phone in my pocket: my totally generic, non-branded phone. I subtly reached for it and tried my best to activate the alarm. Oh boy am I glad I made it the 'sanic theme'.
When I finally succeeded in activating it, they were all startled. I started laughing really hard: their expressions were priceless!
They glared at me, realizing I had made the noise. Even with their disapproving looks, I couldn't stop laughing. I even started crying out of laughter.

"Kira, that wasn't very nice, you know," Fluttershy said, disapprovingly.

Rainbow dash smirked. "Don't listen to her, Kira, that was pretty cool! Heh, you caught us all by surprise."

"Uuuuh, that was a doozie! You totally caught me by surprise!" chirped Pinkie Pie, giggling. She snorted every now and then, and I found it irresistibly cute. This time, I took out my phone to check the time: 3:45 pm.

"What's that strange device?" Twilight asked me, intrigued.

I looked up and showed it to her. "It’s called a cell phone back where I'm from." She looked at it dumbfounded.

"So this... 'cell phone' made that noise?"

"Yep. It can also make other sounds. Like this one." I searched for the horse sound and pressed on it.
She gave me a blank stare.
...
"Did you really have to do that?"

I grinned widely “Hehe, yup! Couldn't resist." She was positively adorable when she was angry.

After a moment, her features relaxed. "Well, you are certainly interesting. I’d better write to the Princess about you later."

I raised my eyebrow at the mention of princesses. "Huh, wait, you guys still have a monarchy?"

"Hmm, yes?” she said, looking confused. “Why do you ask?"

"Because where I'm from, we don't. We have presidents or governors for the states we have."

"But didn't you say you were from an island?"

"Yeah, and it’s a part of a bigger country called America.”

"I see... That’s fascinating news! I’m sure Princess Celestia will be interested in hearing all of it.” She rubbed her chin. “And who's the current President?"

"It's some guy named Charles Garnett."

I let my eyes wander around the room again. Resting in a corner, I spotted my black bag. "Um, can somebody bring me that bag?"

"Somebody? Don't you mean somepony?” Rainbow Dash asked.

I frowned in confusion. "No, it’s somebody. Ponies aren't sapient where I'm from."

They all looked shocked. "Whaddya mean they aren’t…”

“Sapient,” helped Twilight.

“That! Are there other… sapient creatures where you’re from, then?”

Twilight took out a notepad from.....I have no idea where. I decided to ignore that and faced Rainbow. "No. No, unfortunately we do not." I had a hard time keeping the sad tinge out of my voice. They all looked surprised once again.

"But wouldn't that be kind of lonely?" said Fluttershy in a low voice.

"Probably; but humans don't always get along with each other, so I guess it’s safer this way."

"What do you mean?” Twilight asked, scribbling on her notebook.

I decided to not regale her with the horrors of humanity. "I'll tell you another time. I am not really in the mood right now.” I recalled then where the topic had started. “Also, I asked for my bag."

"Oh, allow me, Darling," Rarity chimed in. Her horn gained a light-blue aura. That same aura enveloped my bag, and slowly levitated it to me. "Here you go."

Oh sweet Christ… I was dazed for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened in front of me. I looked at her horn, then at my bag. This went on a couple of times.

"Rarity... did you just use telekinesis?"

She laughed, but Pinkie Pie jumped in first, "No silly! She used magic, all unicorns can! Can't humans do it too?" I didn't respond.

Pinkie let out a huge gasp. "Nowaynowaynowaynoway! You guys don't have magic!” I shrugged. Everyone else looked just as surprised as her.

"But how do you guys get anything done then?" Twilight asked, still writing furiously on her notebook.

"We get by with the help of technology. Our technology is pretty advanced.”

"How advanced?” I decided to tell her about my favorite modern invention.

"Advanced enough that we made a machine that let's us access an impossibly large amount of information.”

"How big are we talking here?" From the way her eyes were shining and her ears perked up, I could tell she was genuinely interested now. The others seemed to be listening carefully too.

"All of recorded human history."

Twilight made an adorable squeak. "Th-that’s incredible! What is this magnificent machine called?"

"It's called a computer." I was finding this very amusing, considering this was common knowledge in my world.

"Wow. I have to admit you humans are nothing short of impressive."

"Yeah, we kind of are." I chuckled and looked into my bag. Everything was there. Checking my phone again, it was now 5 pm. Time sure flies when you’re having an interesting conversation.

Even if by some chance this wasn’t a dream and I was stuck here, at least these ponies were nice enough. They were also quite hot... but I’d better keep that to myself.

It was at that point I noticed I really, really had to go to the bathroom. "Um, Fluttershy? Can I use your bathroom?"

"Of course. It’s right outside this room, first one to the left."

"Ok, thanks."
As I started walking, I realized my legs were working again. One more weird thing to add to the list, I guess...
The rest of the evening went by uneventfully, everyone making small talk and just having a good time until it got late. When the girls left, I waved goodbye to them and closed the door, turning to Fluttershy. "Well, they are certainly fun to have around."

"I'm glad you all got along.” A faint smile adorned her face. “It's pretty late, so I'll be going to bed."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll go to bed too." I picked up my bag and went to the guest room, which was right next to hers. Getting ready for the night proved tricky, but thankfully I at least had pajamas in my bag. I should probably ask Rarity if she could make me more clothes, though. It turns out she owns a Boutique.

Once I finished my routine, I lay down limply on the bed and reached for my bag. “I could sure use some distraction,” I sighed softly. I took out my Nintendo Switch and played Breath of the Wild until I ran out of battery.

Time to get some rest. I turned the bedside lamp off and pulled the covers over my head, but alas, I couldn't sleep. I simply lay there, restless, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything I had just been through. Why did I end up here? Was there any reason behind it? If so, what could it be? I kept mulling over it for quite some time, but eventually my brain got sleepy and I dozed off.

I was fairly sure it was a dream. Where was I? I looked around. The castle was nowhere to be found this time, and all around was a seemingly endless open field covered in grass. I heard a chuckle and turned to see a cloaked figure towering in front of me.

"Well well, it seems you have finally arrived.” His voice was deep, but soothing. “Unfortunately, even though I would love for you to stay and chat, your time has not come yet. Thus, I bid you farewell." He lifted a scaled hand and rested it on my forehead.

I woke up with a startle. The urge to check the time again was getting intense, like every time I was nervous, a habit I’d been trying to give up lately. It was well past two in the morning. I got out of bed and looked out the window. I could feel it again. Something important was going to happen. As quickly as the feeling came, it left. I chose to ignore it and went back to sleep.

Little did I know, I was about to have the adventure of my life.