Enter: The Dreamer

"There's no way this is happening. It has to be a dream!"

William looked through the cell bars at the strange sentient pony creatures in front of him as he sat against the wall. It was impossible to tell how long he'd been in captivity, but judging how he had to sleep at one point, he had to guess it was about a full day.

Outside the cell were three ponies, two which William assumed were guards based on their attire, and the one with mirrored sunglasses who had saved him from the evil tree monster. She was a yellow pony with an orange mane in a style that reminded him of someone who liked the wild and fast life, someone who wasn't afraid to get something done.

"I just got back from Celestia herself, and she's having you stay here until the situation fixes itself," she informed him. William squinted his eyes and just stared at her.

"Listen," he said, "I don't know what's going on, where I am, who Celestia is, or even who you are, so I'd really like some answers!"

This made the mare grin and snicker. "Don't play dumb with me. Everypony knows who Celestia is."

"Did you just say 'everypony?'" This place just got weirder by the second.

"And," she continued, "Whether or not you have heard of Celestia, you're still going to stay here until the situation passes."

"What situation?!" William cried out.

"I'm not authorized to say just yet," she answered.

William got up and banged his head against the wall multiple times. "WAKE! UP! PLEASE!" No matter how hard he hit the concrete, his head seemed to bounce back as if the laws of the universe had become replaced with cheaper cartoony physics.

The mare laughed a little before turning to walk away. "I'll be back tomorrow. You food will be given to you tonight. Hope you like mush."

"This can't be happening!" William thought to himself. "I'm in some kinda dream!"

"Maybe if I pinch myself, I wake up!" he thought before looking down at his hooves. "Fuck... how do I pinch myself without any fingers?"

He looked at one of the guards who stood outside his cell. One of them was sitting down, writing on a crossword puzzle with a pencil in their mouth. That gave William an idea. He brought his foreleg up to his mouth and bit down hard before letting out a yelp in pain.

"Quiet in there," a guard commanded before going back to his crossword.

William grumbled and kicked at the wall with his rear legs. "Stupid dream with its stupid tree monsters and its stupid horses and its stupid jails!"

"I said quiet!" The guard warned.

"Make me!" William challenged.

The guard lit up his horn with a magical aura and William immediately found himself unable to speak any further. This left the guard very satisfied and left William with even angrier than before.

After throwing a fit through kicking the air and other various body movements, William became tired, and soon found himself laying on the uncomfortable floor, nearing the edge of unconciousness. "This isn't a dream, is it? Why would I feel so tired in a dream?" he thought to himself.

He drifted off to sleep, regardless of the cold stone ground.

His sleep had been filled with discomfort, with him tossing and turning.

"Wake up, my little pony..." a gentle voice spoke, stirring William from his sleep.

He opened his eyes to see a majestic figure in the cell with him. She was stunning compared to the other ponies, with large angelic wings, a flawless white coat and a horn upon her head.

"Who are you?" William asked, squinting his eyes.

The figure smiled. "I am Celestia, princess of Equestria."

"So you're Celestia?" he asked as he stood up.

The princess nodded and stood aside for another majestic figure to come through. While Celestia was a white coated pony, this one had a coat as dark as a moonlit night.

"Luna," Celestia said to the slightly smaller pony. "Was this pony one of your followers?"

The dark pony named Luna shook her head. "No."

William was confused. "Does this have to do with why you had me locked up?"

Celestia nodded and draped a wing over Luna's back. "You were near the Castle of The Two Sisters, and so the wonderbolts had you contained. I wasn't available at the time, so they had no choice."

"The Castle of The What? Listen," William started, "This is a big misunderstanding. I was in my home, just sleeping, when all of a sudden I woke up in this forest with a goddamn tree monster. I just want to go home."

Celestia looked at him with a bit of suspicion. "And where is your home?"

"Um... New York?" he replied.

"I've never heard of this 'New York,'" Celestia said.

William thought to himself for a few moments. "Have you heard of Earth?" he asked.

Celestia shook her head. That was when William knew he wasn't on his own planet anymore.