It was summer in the bustling city of New York. In fact, it was one of hottest summers within the last thirty years, with a scorching 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Out of all the towering structures in the city, one particularly small apartment building was home to a young man named William.
He was white, with a bit of a tan, and had dark brown hair. At 5’11, he’d have been considered more or less average height, and he had a skinny build. As he laid in bed, his brown eyes skimmed over the pages of a book he had borrowed from a public library.
Being an avid reader, he always had his nose in a book. His job as a librarian’s assistant had its perks. One of them being that he could check out any book for as long as he wanted. Books were all he needed. Who needed friends when you could explore an entire world from the safety of your own home? One minute he’d be at home and then the next he would be in France, or on a deserted island. He was content with his life.
“Ha! Poor sucker,” he commented. He had just reached a part in the book where the main character was tricked by a con artist who claimed to have magic. William never believed in magic himself. In fact, he was skeptical of all paranormal phenomena. Whether it was Bigfoot or a ghost, he’d want evidence before he could believe in it. Even miracles were nothing but random coincidence. Everything in his life could be explained by science. He would even scoff at people who were religious.
He read his book all day, only stopping to either get a drink or to use the restroom. He wanted to finish the book as quickly as possible so that he could return the book for another the next day. Sure, con artists and swordsmen were interesting, but now he wanted to get into something more modern, like Sherlock Holmes. His eyes soon read along the last page and then he snapped the book closed.
"That’s done,” he said to himself. Looking out the window, he noticed night had fallen upon the city. He then looked at his clock on the wall, which read 10:37 PM. “Well, shit,” he mumbled as he placed the book upon the nightstand. “Goodnight,” he said to no one in particular… Who needed friends?
William tossed and turned later that night, his body aching all over. It felt like there was tremendous pressure all over his body, like something was on top of him, trying to crush him. He opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness all around him. Everything was pitch black, and it was freezing cold. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. It was like all sound was muted.
Then, a small spark in the distance, a small light that he could barely make out. Desperate, he tried to swim through the darkness. The light seemed to get closer and closer as he swam. He was so close. He could feel its warmth, its promise of freedom from the darkness. Eventually, after swimming for what seemed like forever, he finally reached his goal. The light enveloped him, and he awoke.
William opened his eyes to see a clear blue sky. His back ached, and his bed seemed to be firmer than he remembered… wait… Why was his bed outside? Why was HE outside? He scrambled about, standing up on his two legs before falling down. That was odd… He stood back up, only to fall back down again. Why couldn’t he stand up? He scratched his head with his hoof before… wait… Hoof?!
William stared at what used to be his hands. “What the hell is this?!” he cried out, trying to stand up again. He fell flat on his face and began to scramble about. Eventually he regained his balance on all four… legs??? He looked all around himself to see nothing but overgrown forest in every direction, the only source of light coming from up above. He saw a small pond nearby and galloped over to it, looking in and seeing his reflection.
He was…. A pony! But it was nothing like he’d ever see before! His brown eyes were too big for his head, and his hair had change from dark brown to blond! His fur color was unnaturally blue, and upon his head was a horn! “HOLY FLAMING SHIT ON A SHINGLE!” he screamed, touching the tip of his horn. “What the fuck did they drug me with?! Ok! Gotta… gotta calm down! I’m obviously dreaming! It’s just a dream! Just a dream… just a—“
His frantic mumbling was cut off by a breaking twig. He slowly turned around as best he could with his new legs to witness two yellow glowing eyes staring at him from within the dark brush. It slowly walked out from the brush to reveal its form. It appeared to be just a bunch of branches and leaves fused together into some terrifying lupine creature.
“Oh my God…” He began stumbling to move as best he could and his body seemed to take over, galloping as fast as he could from the tree beast. Soon he was dashing through the forest aimlessly, unable to tell where he was going. He could hear the monster closing in on him from behind, causing him to run even faster.
“GO AWAY PLEASE!” He cried, his legs on autopilot as he looked back. The wolf was lagging behind, causing William to laugh. “HA! YOUR MOTHER WAS A TWIG!” His laughter was cut short though by a branch he failed to see in front of him. He was then conked on the head, causing him to fall backwards. Dazed, he got up, seeing stars. “Did anyone get the license plate number on that twelve foot tall dwarf?” he asked, confused.
Behind William, the wolf was ready to pounce when out of the sky came a blue and yellow blur. The creature tried to bite onto the flying daredevils, only to grab air. The yellow blur grabbed a loose branch on the ground and flew at the monster at top speed, smashing the branch into it and shattering the beast to pieces. William, finally coming to, saw the shattered remains. “And uhh… That’s why you don’t m-mess with me! Yeah!”
He was about ready to walk away when he was shoved up against a tree by a yellow pony with sunglasses. “Who are you, and why were you wandering around here?!” she asked with authority.
It was going to be a long day…
"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.