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Darkness. Pitch darkness surrounded him, the silence deafening. And the cold. The frigid cold seeping into his being felt like nothing he'd ever felt before. It was numbing, almost calming in a way. Was this it? Was this oblivion? He couldn't remember exactly how he ended up here. Perhaps he'd died in his sleep for some unknown reason. Whatever the case, this was certainly not home. But, that didn't feel like it mattered now, as he'd accepted his cold, desolate fate. He was never the religious type, and this would have proven his atheism right. Were it not for the sudden rustling of leaves.

"Leaves? The fuck's going on here?" He thinks.

In all this time, he'd never bothered to try moving. Attempting to stand, he breaks out of what seems to be a pile of wet leaves in a dark, foreboding forest. In that moment, he'd realized two things. He should've stayed oblivious to where he was, and he has to run from that giant star bear thing sleeping in a nearby cave. As soon as he tries to stand again, he notices another thing. He's small, red, and has no hands or feet anymore, just stumps. After falling for a second time, he tries to stand on all fours. Success! He gently steps, little by little, away from the star bear cave.

Still not quite adept at walking yet, he continues to move in a staggering manner through the forest. Some fucked up afterlife he'd wound up in, as a red stumpy thing in a creepy forest with giant star bear things. Eventually, he stumbles onto a dirt path, which can only mean one thing.

"Civilization! Maybe I can get some help!" He thinks excitedly, stumbling down the path with newfound resolve.

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Upon exiting the forest, and following the path out to the horizon of the town it leads to, his hopes had turned to confusion. The ones going about their business in the rural looking town were all multicolored miniature rainbow horses with comically large eyes. What's weirder, some had wings, and others had horns. Before he could fully process what was going on, a couple of the horses, one male and one female, made their way over to him. This caused him to panic, and attempt to run, only to stumble over himself again.

"Oh, look at the poor dear, he looks so frightened." The mare laments. Her coat was a brighter pink, her mane and tail were purple, and she has what looks like cookies on her flank.

"Do you think he's lost? I've never seen a red unicorn like him around here before." The stallion asks his presumed wife or girlfriend. He has a white coat, brown mane and tail, and what looks like footballs on his flank. He also has VERY bushy eyebrows and a matching mustache.

"Good question. Say, little fella, where are your parents at?" The mare asks, leaning in to get to eye level with the recovering colt.

"Shit! What do I do, what do I DO!? Think, come on, apparently I'm one of those little horse things with a horn or whatever. Parents? Back home doing things just fine, I'd moved out years ago. Should I say dead? No, that wouldn't end too well. Maybe I should imply it with a fabricated story? Yeah, that should work." He thinks, looking up at the couple.

"I d-don't know... We went into a big, scary forest. Then, we ran into a giant star bear, and they told me to run. I-I heard screaming after that... But I still ran, like they said. They'll be back, I-I know they will be." He stammers, stomping a hoof on the ground to assert his statement.

The couple looks absolutely mortified by the story. "Bingo. Damn my voice is so high pitched."

"U-um, honey, you see..." The mare starts.

"Well, the uh, truth is..." The stallion continues.

He leans in, doing his best to look curious. "Yes?"

"We are going to... take you to see the mayor! Yeah, she'll know what to do next." The mare says.

"Yeah, good thinking Cookie. Let's go see the mayor!" The stallion agrees with the mare.

The couple and the stray all walk towards the town hall, the stray colt observing how the others around him are walking, mimicking their movements until he's walking normally.

Eventually, they make it to the town hall, entering. The place was empty aside from them, and a single secretary at the desk at the far end of the room. The colt finds himself a seat as the adults go to talk.

"So, I'm in a new world, with weird talking miniature horses, as a young version of these horses with a horn. I haven't even looked in a mirror yet, and I'm not sure I'll like what I see. Best to let them figure out my re-homing situation, I haven't got a clue what this world's social structures are like yet." He rationalizes to himself.

The couple approaches him, guiding him to the mayor's office. The office itself looked exactly like a generic, boring office one would normally find. The mayor at the desk, on the other hand.

"GAH! MY EYES! PINK ON BROWN!? AAAAAEEEEECGH! His mind recoils at the visual of such a vibrant hot pink on a brown color.

"So, you're the little mystery colt Hondo and Cookie found. Do you have a name?" The polite yet garish mayor asks.

"Hold up, the one woman, er, mare? Yeah, mare's name is Cookie or something, and she has a cookie ass tat. I wonder if I have one..." The colt thinks, quickly glancing at his hindquarters.

His mark appears to be that of a purple, blazing Omega symbol. "Omega. I'm Omega."

"Real creative, but if the ass marks are the way to go with names, so be it." Thought the newly-dubbed Omega.

"That's an... interesting name. But, who am I to question it. Mayor is my literal name." Mayor Mare says, looking down at a few different papers.

"Well Omega, there aren't exactly any er, places for you to stay here in Ponyville. Long-term, anyway. The closest place that could have you is out in Canterlot, so we'll have to get you a train ticket. The earliest we can schedule is tomorrow, so you'll need somepony to look after you here for tonight. Hondo, Cookie?" Mayor looks at them expectantly.

"Oh, well, I suppose we could look after the little scamp for tonight. Right?" Cookie says, looking to her husband now.

"You betcha, not sure how Rarity would feel about it, but we could definitely work something out." Hondo agrees.

"Then that's all settled. Have a nice evening!" The mayor says with a smile, waving as the trio exit her office.

"This is exactly what I needed to deal with again, adults making all the decisions for you when you're a child." Omega thinks in contempt. "Then again, it's my only option. Well, only safe option, I should say. Or think. I heard something about another pony in there, Rarity... their child perhaps?"

Omega continues to ponder his situation and surroundings as they walk. The house they arrive at looks very unassuming, like every other house in this town. On the outside, anyway. Inside, Omega makes note of the middle-class looking furnishings. Some things here and there appear to be fancier, though they're most likely cheaper than they appear. He also sees a filly around his physical age, white coat with purple mane and tail, and a triple diamond mark, who he can only assume is Rarity, and some kind of sitter. The sitter looked to be around teen-age, light tan with a light brown mane and tail, with a heart and baby bottle mark.

Rarity immediately drops the toy tea set she was holding with her hooves to rush to her father and mother, hugging them both before looking at Omega in confusion.

The sitter waves to the couple and stray colt. "Back already? I thought you'd be gone for another couple of hours or so."

"Well, things got a bit complicated. We found this one here running out from the Everfree Forest of all places." Hondo explains, much to the sitter's surprise.

"He says his name is Omega, and his parents..." Cookie trails off, looking at the sitter in a way that says not to talk about it any further.

"So, he's going to go to Canterlot tomorrow, but he has to have a place to stay for tonight." Hondo finishes.

"Ah, I see. I guess that means I won't be needed for tonight. I'll see myself out." The sitter says, moving to leave. "That was a very nice tea party Rarity, I can't wait for the next one."

"Here's the bits, and thank you." Hondo says, the bit pouch floating over to the sitter.

Omega looks confused at what just happened there for a moment, deciding to ask about it later.

The sitter hefts the bag slightly in her hoof. "Oh, but this is full payment. I was only here for about half the time-"

"Nonsense, just take it. You've more than earned it." Cookie cuts of and reassures her.

The sitter smiles. "Thank you both, so much!"

"Take care of yourself Cream." Cookie says, waving goodbye.

Omega lightly taps on Hondo's leg, about as high as he can reach.

"What is it little guy?" Hondo asks, leaning down.

"Do you have a bathroom I can use? I got all kinds of gross leaves and stuff in my coat back at the forest." Omega asks.

"Oh, it's just down that way, door on the left." Hondo points.

"Thank you." Omega thanks him, walking over that way.

Meanwhile, he can hear Rarity asking her mom all sorts of questions, though Omega doesn't pay any attention to them as he gets into the bathroom. He looks at the toilet, seeing a traditionally human toilet just sitting right there in the bathroom. The tub looks fairly normal too, though it doesn't seem as out of place. He quickly glances in the mirror, looking at his own, deep purple eyes, and somewhat dirtied black and white mane. Turning back to the tub, he runs himself a nice, warm bath, relaxing in the steaming water as he washes the grime of the Everfree off.

He looks at the toilet again. "How in the fuck do I use that as a horse?"

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The accommodations were quite nice, despite the short notice of it all. Rarity had asked him a whole slew of questions after he got out of the bathroom, though most of it wasn't anything that was actually important. Her neglect to ask about his parents must have meant that her parents told her not to say anything, and the fact that she didn't ask was relieving. Now he was sleeping on a spare bed in Rarity's room, something he didn't pay much mind to. Of course, Rarity was already out cold, and his own urge to sleep grew heavier. As he dozed off, he thought of one last thing.

"These ponies, they're nice. Taking in some orphan child, that's not something a whole lot of human parents would do if they saw a stray child. Maybe this new world is a good thing after all...

Author's Note

Yes, for those wondering, the sitter is Button's mom, went with the name Cream Heart because idk, seemed like the one to use.