The faint beeping of some machine is what slowly restored my mind back into the land of the living. The first thing I noticed was how absolutely not okay my head was feeling, which caused an involuntary grunt of pain as I regained consciousness.

Ugh... feels like somebody tossed my brain through a meat grinder after cooking it for Thanksgiving... At least somebody had the decency of calling the paramedics on me after I was probably found on that hill looking like a god damn lunatic, having lucid imaginings about being abducted into space by rainbow spaghetti..

These thoughts rushing through me quickly cased my grunting to stop, as I currently was unaware of what really ended up happening to me. The last thing I remember was falling from the base of the clouds over some massive city made of what I could only guess was glass... and that's pretty much it. I can not recall ever getting closer than twenty feet to the ground, as I think the high velocity probably knocked me out before I met my flat-surfaced arch enemy.

This only leaves the question of... which parts of these events were real or not?

Feeling thoroughly offended by the onslaught of questions towards my already scrambled brain, I focused on opening my eyes. Just as soon as I cracked my right eye open I immediately shut it from the pain that roared through my brain after meeting face to face with possibly the brightest light I have ever had the un-pleasure of meeting. I internally flipped a bird and hissed through my teeth at the electricity, and turned my head to try my luck on the wall instead.

As I once again attempted to free myself from the darkness of my eyelids, I could still feel the pain from the general light in the room, which I now realized was obviously a hospital room. I must've caught a pretty bad concussion if my head is pounding this bad.

Great. Mental illness and concussion. What's next? Zymarikaphobia?

I moved my hand up to my head in order to rub my temples. Hey, at least my arms aren't useless noodles. The rubbing ended up not doing much to soothe my brain which was now pounding like a jackhammer. Grunting once again in absolute dismay at my predicament, I resumed my optic battle.

After what seemed like hours of opening eyes and closing eyes, I finally managed to get used to the light in the room as the pain slowly went from having a screwdriver dug into my skull to feeling like I my brain was filled up with air and at the verge of exploding. I carefully examined my surroundings and found what looked like any normal hospital room, if my deduction of that was anything to go on. I've never actually been put in a hospital before, only gone to get vaccines and the sorts. I've been lucky to avoid broken limbs and internal damages and the day of my birth does not count as a hospital visit. Plus, the smell of disinfectants gave it away big-time.

The walls were a faint green-blueish theme with some swirls here and there, same with the green roof. It looked like it was supposed to be some sort of wind rushing through, or so the occupants of the room were supposed to get lost in thought about as they waited for their bodies to get the healing done. Let me tell you, this did the job quite good.

To my right was a window, slightly open to let in a breeze that lifted the yellow curtains some. Though, all I could see from my position on the bed lying down were some trees and the blue sky. Goodie, it's day. I hate waking up at night.

Scanning around me some more, I found a heart monitor to my right beeping ever so consistently keeping in pace with the big, sloppy red organ in my chest. My eyes trailed down to a desk below and I noticed a clipboard containing some scribbles of which I could not quite determine the context of, given my current position on the bed.

I was suddenly aware that I was very neatly wrapped in a bed with some green covers. I also noticed that both of my feet stuck out of the covers at the end of the bed, assuring me that I still had possession of my walkywalkers. I started wiggling around my toes, making sure I hadn't become a cripple, and sighed in relief.

Alright, that's that. I tested my other arm that had been planted firmly at my side, and lifted my covers. What I found was my green jacket slightly zipped open. I started feeling myself up and down to make sure I was alright.

Naturally the first place I checked was between my legs, but I don't need to mention that.

Relishing in that besides the fact that my head was shook to all hell, the rest of me miraculously seemed okay. As I examined the rest of me under the covers, I just had to wonder why the heck I was wrapped in a bed with my outdoor clothing still on. I was just getting the tiniest bit hot from the amount of fabric around me and the head of the room.

Odd... why would they not remove my clothes?

Before I could think more about the randomness that my life had given me, I heard footsteps coming from outside the door. It sounded like the high heel brigade coming to meet me, given the amount of steps and clicks I was hearing.

Not really thinking much, I went back into the comfort of the bed and closed my eyes again, pretending to sleep. Not really sure why, I guess I wanted to take in what was going on before I revealed myself to be awake. At least then, if they had assumed I had lost my mind, I could at least make up some excuse as to why I acted the way I did.

That is to say, if making up something like that wasn't impossible or didn't make me sound like a moron.

The steps finally reached my door and I heard the door open. The clicks and clacks entered my room and I will admit, the sound of it did not do well on my ears. I swear to god I will never again go to HighHeelHospital given the chance.

Based on my hearing alone, I could determine that two people stopped in front of me, which was actually to the side of the room facing the window since I had turned my head in the direction of it. I could hear the one closest to me sigh and heard some sound I really could not explain ignite. It was like a shimmering humming. I've heard strange phone tunes and message sounds before, but this one was new.

After some uncomfortable silence between the amount of people in the room, the one in front of me finally spoke up.

"Well, it seems to me like it should have awoken by now. With everything you told us about the spell, all the symptoms have been on point so far, Ms. Glimmer."

Blg-wuh? What the hell were they talking about? I know I don't have any medical degree on my person, bur I'm pretty sure there are no procedures called "spells", and who the heck names their child Glimmer? Also, did this guy just call me an "It"?

The one to my left who I could now assume was 'Glimmer' spoke up. Ah, a girl. "I'm sorry, Doctor. Like I said this was the first time I ever tried this one. I know it was stupid, but I didn't know what else to do!" She frantically replied the one I now know was my doctor.

I didn't even bother stopping for directions, I was just going to drive full throttle down this highway and see what I end up crashing into. Hopefully it will be fist or a boot. I'm pretty sure I need one of those to the face at this point.

"Don't worry, Starlight. You did the right thing. If it weren't for you, this one wouldn't have made it." The one on Glimmer's right spoke. Or was it... Starlight? These are some seriously confusing nicknames, but I won't lie I just had to mentally snicker at the level of goofy I felt over the serious tone of the lady speaking to Glimmer, and the way she said "Starlight".

So I have this 'Glimmer Starlight' character to thank for my continued life with a terrible headache. For this, I am thoroughly grateful.

"Indeed, Ms. Glimmer. You shouldn't blame yourself for your actions. This gave us a whole new field to work on, and to think we had the honor of examining an entirely new species is very exciting, to say at least." The doctor exclaimed with no mount of subtle excitement in his voice.

Now then, time to pull the parking brake at eighty miles an hour. Whoo, look at me fly out that windshield. Alright, I think I was in a different boat that was in a different ocean, that was then in a different country that was in a different planet. Either this guy was unfathomably racist, or I was in some way different kind of trouble than I had originally thought.

Though, all this aside how bad could it be? They were obviously worried about me and my recovery, despite the fact they seemed to be under the impression that I wasn't of the same species as them. We could obviously speak the same language, so there was that. I did not yet crack an eye open at the fear of being determined awake by the group surrounding me. If this was some sick RP session going on, I was not about to take part of it, thank you very much.

The one I did not yet know the name of spoke up once more after giggling at the doctors antics. "I can assure you, doctor, I have just as much excitement about this as you and your colleges do. I will be sure to mention your capable caring hooves in my detailed report on this matter."

I heard the doctor shuffle to my right. "Thank you, Princess Twilight."

Oh shit.

Princess?

Well, as if the can of beans hadn't already been lit of fire and turned into popcorn, let's just throw in the dancing butter, too. I can't even be bothered to give a damn at this point. As crazy as this all is, how in the seven pits of Brad Pitt could this all be my imagination, or a dream for that matter? This all contained some seriously baffling stuff, stuff I had never even imagined before. I was just a normal dude into normal stuff with a normal job, for pete's sake!

Okay, I won't lie, I was into weird shit too, but aren't we all?

Needless to say, this isn't even close to one of the things I do or think. So... I guess this could be really happening?

I'm.... I'm not sure. Though saying this didn't catch my interest would be throwing an understatement under the understatement of another understatement.

A few more minutes of idle chatter went on before I could tell they would finally leave. "Well, I don't think there's much more we can do but wait until it does wake up. We'll come by later this evening, doctor." The 'Princess' said as I heard the clicks and clacks pick up again and headed slowly towards the door. There's no wonder I heard so many steps, she probably had her lackeys in tow, no doubt. What kinda messed up society use high heels as a standard, though?

"Of course, Princess Twilight. You may check in whenever you'd like. I will also give you a heads up if something were to happen before then." The doctor replied walking with her towards the area of the door. All this time I had managed to remain silent and breathing steady breaths while I let my already pounding brain take all the beating. I was going to hear it from Mr. Brain later.

Assuming nobody was eyeing me at this point, I chanced a glance and carefully opened my left eye. What I saw...

What I saw just made recent event come crashing down, and the reality of the situation became so much more clear.

I saw the retreating forms of three equines. Horses as far as my brain would allow me to think, but I eventually landed on ponies, given their size. It now made sense how I heard so many steps and the clicks. Hooves, right.

If my mind could talk, it would be saying no words wiser than Evan Baxter did in his news report.

I remember these... ponies, running towards me when I was falling. Is that really what this was?

The one walking in front of the group of the three ponies who had been in my room was a purple one with a darker mane and streaks of purple going through it with a tail to match. What I also noticed was the she had wings. Yeah, I know. Wings that were currently folded against her back. I assumed this was the princess character, as I heard her chatting with the one I could now assume was 'Glimmer Starlight' and recognized her voice from earlier. 'Glimmer' was a light pink pony, with a swirly mane and tail with some light blue colored streaks lining them both.

You know, besides the small details, the two were quite similar in a lot of ways. They also both had some strange marks on their butts that I couldn't quite make out.

Last but not least was the doctor. I could obviously tell since he was wearing a white doctors coat on his back and a stethoscope around his neck. His fur was caramel brown, and his tail and mane were a chocolate brown color. Balanced on his snout were a pair of small oval glasses. To top this off, he had a sharp horn sticking out of his forehead. A freaking unicorn? He also had some picture on his butt, but that one I could clearly tell was a heart monitor. 'Kaay... I noticed this because he was standing beside the door, letting the ladies exit first.

Smooth.

Reacting quickly, I shut my eye as he glanced back towards my direction. There was a moment of silence before I heard him head out and close the door behind me, leaving me alone again.

Holy bajeebus and everything mighty about Thor, this was quite the revelation.

I went through the events in my mind a countless number of times, adding more to my poor chunk of meat that separated my eyeballs from my short, brown hair.

So... In whatever state of ecstasy I have entered, there are talking ponies with wings and horns, colored in the fashion I would come to expect to see upon entering a kindergarten.

To be honest, this was pretty freaking radical and eye-opening, but on the other hand, I never asked for this. I just wanted to see some pretty lights, and I got more than I bargained for. Biting the bullet, I opened my eyes again, waited for a moment to check if there weren't any steps outside the room, then got up from the bed.

My body had other plans, indeed. I almost ended up faceplanting like a dumbass, had it not been for the railing at the edge of the bed. I needed the support from the bed to even stand up properly, but once I took a few steps of my own, I quickly regained my senses of balance. Man, I must've been out for a long time for my legs to get to this state of weakness. Based on the magnitude of my headache, I almost wanted to believe I had been under a pretty bad coma, but that just seems so wicked and unreal... then again, what just happened I think surpasses the possibility of coma by a mile and a half.

Sitting back down on the bed, I put my head in my hands and continue mulling over my thoughts. What do I even do now? Wait for them to come back and we'll go from there? All that, assuming this is actually real?

Nah.

I slapped my face slightly from my oncoming thoughts of despair, pointing a finger at myself. Shoo, bad thoughts. Don't need ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.

I chuckled to myself, happy I still had possession of my snarkyness. Scanning the room once more, I found my backpack leaning against the foot of my bed zipped shut. Good, all my stuff is here. I opened it to check if it still contained my goodies.

God damnit, they took Fritz.

Yeah, I kinda see why they would take that. Not a good first impression to carry that around, especially around royalty... but hey. It's mine. I assumed they had stored it away somewhere for me to not find, so I didn't really bother looking for it.

Spending a few minutes pondering about what should be done I eventually land on probably the dumbest one. I rush up from my bed, wanting to get it done before someone comes to check on me again. I snatch up my backpack and secure it in place behind it's rightful place on my back, before tip-toeing over to my backpack. I swore I could hear a pitter patter sound effect from somewhere, but I shrugged it off.

Reaching my shoes without making so much as a squee, I gently grab them and try as best as I can to slip them on while balancing on one leg at a time, which is harder than you would imagine especially considering I had just woken up from a sleep that lasted for god-knows how long.

Absentmindedly keeping check on any movement outside, I eventually manage to get both of my footwear firmly attached to my feet. They are nothing quite grand, but they have their perks. They are a combination of hiking and sports shoes, which makes them both resistant to the bads of the nature and lightweight to use. Honestly it's the perfect pair for me.

Shoving my thoughts aside, I now tip-toe back to the bed to make sure I missed nothing, checking under the covers for good measure, and head towards the window.

Yeah, If you didn't realize already, I'm getting out of dodge. For now, this is too much, and I would like to at least have a minor migraine before dealing with these creatures. Still, I will vouch for the off chance that soon I will wake up and this will be a dream I will keep locked away in the deepest, darkest depths of my mind. Oh, and a trip to the shrink would probably be a good idea, too.

So I make my way over to the window and I can now take in the fullness of the outside, and what it has to offer. Firstly, the only thing I get is a punch to the face by the solar power of the daylight. If the light in the room was bad, this was super-duper-uber-bad. I ended up forcing my eyes open with my fingers, letting the tears stream down. Man, this sucks. I mean, this stuff never happens to me. I'm fairly social and I never fail to get my dose of sunshine, so experiencing pain from the sun is a little boring. Painful as a bear's nutsacks, too.

When I eventually manage to, again, get used to the sharp light, I try to take in all the details as to get a lay of the land before I head out. Surrounded by a large amount of nature, I see is a village of some medieval design. The small houses littered everywhere majorly consisted of a wooden material and thatched roofs. Most of the houses were of a simple design, some two stories but most of them only one. Some houses though, were quite unique. There was a grand tower-ish house in what seemed to the the center of the town, presumably the town hall. The thing was of a circular design and had about two stories with a roof that probably served as a third floor. I saw a bunch of technicolored ponies milling about the center, minding their own business, some walking around and some of them flying. I felt myself shake my head in further confusion about what was going on, but decided to give it a rest already. My head was numb enough.

Looking further into the town, I saw another structure that had vaguely the same design, but the color was a mash of purple and pink, and it was just two stories tall, ending in a sharp looking spire. I couldn't really tell more of the details of it given it's distance from the window I was looking through.

This was all a pretty sight to behold, and I would probably talk more about the different houses and places, but I was too busy feasting my eyes on the huge crystal tower thingamabob that stood out like a sore thumb way back behind all the houses mentioned so far. My current guess was that this thing was probably the home of Princess Purple Pony.

"Sheesh.. talk about subtlety." I chuckled despite it all. I mean, I get the castle but was the size of it really necessary? I bet you could fit this entire town in that castle and still fit another one like it.

Taking care of the time I had, I carefully opened my window with the clasp on the side of it. Making sure that there were nobody on the ground below, I moved my foot out with ease, given that the window was much lower on the wall than I was used to. That's quite the safety hazard. Then again... These ponies are probably much smaller than me in general, so that would make sense, actually. Usually a window back home would be up to my waist, while here it came up to my lower thighs.

Luckily for me, there were nobody in range of the hospital, so nobody could currently observe me trying to masterly climb down the side of this building. I try placing my foot on the beam that stuck out of the wall beneath the window, separating what now seemed to be the third floor from the second. Looks like I couldn't jump... damn. I would at least have to get down to the second floor to pull that off. Had I decided on jumping at this height, I could definitely count myself unable to walk for a long while.

I just had to take a good grip around my nuts and get the deed done. I nodded in confidence and put the rest of my being outside the window, holding on to the window for extra support while standing on the small ledge that the beam provided. I would have to be fast in reaching the ledge under it. I didn't want anybody to see me sneaking out. That would probably not be too good.

Being careful yet swift, I reached down to the ledge and in the same motion swung my legs down to hang from the ledge, thankfully landing on the next ledge under me with no real issue. Holy shitbanana, that probably looked awesome. Thank the lord that these things built their houses as small as they did, or I would probably have slipped off and smashed my crotch into the wall before my legs hit the ledge.

I was now standing in-between two windows on the second floor, clinging for my life to the ledge above. Shit. I would have to make my way across the one to my left to go for the bushes I had spotted earlier. Sighing and crossing my imaginary fingers that were currently not occupied in clinging for their lives, I rushed across with my teeth gritted. I only saw curtains for the brief second I was in front of the window, but being broad daylight I can imagine the fright you would get from seeing a large shadow cross by your window. Spending about twenty seconds waiting for a scream or a sound of distress, I deemed myself safe for the moment, and continued on to the corner of the building.

The fact that nobody had seen me at this point was a freaking miracle. Added, I was being a stupid fool about being stealthy, especially with my dark colors not at all blending in with the bright beige wall of the hospital.

I was now within jumping range of the bushes under me. No problem. I jumped for it and hoped for the best.

At least, I thought I did. For some reason my body had decided to get very friendly with the wall I was clinging to, and would not heed the telegram my brain had delivered to my body with the strict order of Y.O.L.O. Give me a break...

Trying to pull myself together, I shakily let go of the wall before trying to get as low as possible towards the ledge before trying to jump, which obviously failed. Cursing at myself, I stood there looking like a goof looking over the bushes in lust. I slowly hung my foot out of the ledge, trying to dare myself to jump. "Heh... no problem, right? Just a few... fifteen feet. What's the problem?" I tried and failed to help myself gain the motivation.

"Hey! Whaddaya doin'?"

Never have I jumpscared so hard in my life, and I put the word 'jump' in 'jumpscare' quite literally this time, as I felt myself unwillingly fling myself from my grip and straight into the bushes below. You know, I really underestimated the support bushes had. I felt nearly nothing as I hit them.

Though, I believe I was too busy panicking about the fact that somebody has just loudly made their presence known just above me. A voice that I now heard snickering from the location I heard it earlier. I lay there with my arms and legs splayed across the bush I had landed in, trying to clumsily get myself out of them while searching for the scoundrel that had scared me.

Once I got up, I brushed myself off and saw a flash of blue up on the roof of the hospital. I could still hear the snickering and I now realized whoever did this was probably laughing at my expanse. How dare they!

I did not have the time nor the will to do this right now, and before whoever it was could spot me again once their fit subsided, I stealthily made my way over to the big sign just a ways over from where I had landed.

The sign was pretty simple. A red cross with some pink hearts in each of the curves, simply saying 'hello, this is a hospital'. The simplicity of it did not go unappreciated by me as I silently jogged my way over and swung behind it, which was actually the front of it, hiding from the direction of my stalker. Man, while she was good at sneaking up on me, she was not good at keeping her hiding place a secret.

Finally getting her laughter in control, the pony looked over the edge of the roof probably trying to find me again. I relished in the sound of confusion she made when she didn't see me. She was probably expecting to find me in the bushes trying to regain my senses. Ha, no dice. I'm better than that, I had siblings that pranked me all the time, so good luck getting me to the point of shock, even if she did scare me more than my siblings ever did. I took a chance to peek around the bend of the large sign to get a good look.

Now that I could properly examine the pony, I realized that she was a pegasus. That made sense actually, since she was casually hanging out on the roof. So... In this place, it seems to be normal to be either a pegasus or a unicorn... okay. I guess I can roll with that. I noticed this because her wings had fluffed out at her confusion about where I had gone.

Scanning her some more, I noticed she had the most impossible hairstyle ever. She had a perfect rainbow mane, giving room for each color of the rainbow. Like, seriously, the separation between each of the colors were flawless. Her coat was a light blue color and I could now easily tell this was a girl. I kind of had that suspicion since she first made her presence known, but Idunno, the vibe she gave off just made it so obvious to me. That, and probably because the voice I heard and the snickering sounded too much like a girl to be a guy.

"Hey, dude, where'd you go?" She called out from her spot, leaping off the building and hovering down to the patch of ruffed bushes that I had landed in. She scanned the area, and I dove back behind the sign before she could direct her eyes this way. Shit. Now what? She was probably going to come look here anyway, given it is the biggest hiding spot in the surrounding area.

Using my hands to support me in attempting to sprint towards the nearest treeline, I found myself grasping a rock. I lifted the rock up to my face and examined it for a few moments. Hello rock, what do?

Feeling a light bulb above my head, I grinned widely. Let's play fetch, pony of water and light reflections.

Winding up my arm, I threw the rock towards the other end of the building, and relished at the sound it made impacting in the patches of more bushes just around the corner. This seemed to do the trick, as the rainbow pony wasted no time in trying to sneak over there, snickering all the way.

The little shit. She was probably planning on scaring me again had I really been there. I should go over there and give her a taste of her own medicine... Nah. Resist. Maybe another time.

Acting with the chance I had been given, I made an effort in silently closing the distance between the sign and the treeline of the forest I had taken an interest in. I had failed to mention said treeline during my window-spotting, thought yet again I was too busy looking at the more radical sights.

Checking behind me to make sure I was all good, I saw no sign of the blue pony. I simply sprinted the rest of the way and only hid behind a tree once I got a little bit into the treeline. Checking again, I saw the prankster coming out from the other end of the building looking frazzled. Ha. She went around the whole thing thinking I did so too. I could not hinder the chuckle that came out of me at the expanse of the pony's frustration.

Though, this does put me at a disadvantage. Now they know I'm up and about and have fled from my presumed captivity. Though they would find out eventually when they would check up on me later today, I had planned to get a bit of a head start before they came running. If I really was as unique as they stated, I would assume they won't let me be walking out there by my own will.

After some frantic searching with no luck, though she did get pretty close to me when she checked a few trees just at the edge of the forest, the rainbow pony zoomed off towards the direction of the town, probably to warn her kin. "I better start moving before the pitchforks and torches come out." I whispered to myself, giggling at the thought.

You know, as crazy as this all is, I can't help but have half a mind to just go with it. Honestly the ponies seemed nice as far as I was aware, they definitely had no plans on invading my home or eating me for dinner for some crazed solar sacrifice... but then, why was this all happening? Why was I here? How did I get here? Will I be able to go home?

I didn't want to write this off as a dream quite yet. I still have a tuft of hope that any moment I'll wake up either in my bed or at that hill.

Stepping out from behind the tree I was hiding behind, I slapped my hand against the bark. Ouch.

What? I had to try. Since the fall to the ground didn't do much to me I just had to check another way. Guess those bushes I landed in were just extra bouncy today.

Looking at my hand, I noticed some redness and just a few scratches on the palm. Closing it into a fist and opening it again, I noticed now that I was getting a bit cold again. Well, at least the weather makes sense. I rubbed my hands together for added warmth, taking in the sight before me.

I now stood with my back turned from where I had entered, and faced a downwards hill with an open spot in the treetops revealing a gigantic landscape of trees and mountains that went on for miles and miles. I noticed that one of the mountains had some sort of structure hanging from it. Jesus Christ, this place was a whole new can of worms. I'm pretty sure gravity would have taken care of that thing long ago back home.

"Well, one thing is for sure." I spoke to nobody in particular while adjusting my backpack. I made sure everything from my pants to my jacket were good and set to go before taking a step towards the unknown.

"I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

The halls of the castle gave off a soothing light from the rays of the sun shining in from the large windows. The silence it was radiating was unmatched. There was no shortage of amazing tapestry lining the walls along with a decent amount of doors leading to split chamber containing rooms only left to guesses by a spectator.

A pair of golden doors took a blue-ish glow, and opened themselves revealing Starlight Glimmer, student of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She was on her usual tour around the castle trying to get used to it's size and grace. She still couldn't believe that she was allowed to stay there, let alone being forgiven for her despicable acts towards ponykind.

She frowned and shunned herself for once again letting these nagging thoughts back into her mind as she closed the doors behind her with her magic. It seemed they would never really go away no matter how hard she tried, but did she even deserve not having it in her mind?

She mentally slapped herself for once again trying to talk herself down. No. She had changed. She had gotten better! She had gotten friends, friends who not only helped banish the old her from hurting anypony again, but who also gave her a second chance and a new home. To top it all of, her friend Twilight had helped her regain her oldest friend, Sunburst! She couldn't be more grateful, in fact, she didn't know what to do to be able to repay them for their kindness.

Sighing, she kept walking down the grand hallway of the castle, heading towards what she at this point remembered to be the dining area. She could hear indistinct chatter from inside the doors as she fired up her magic and gently opened them, revealing the Princess of Friendship and her loyal assistant, Spike. Both of whom noticed the pink unicorn enter, and smiled at her.

"Just in time, Starlight. I was about to send Spike to get you here. Would you like some dinner?" Asked the alicorn. Starlight only sniffed the air for a moment before grinning, knowing the familiar smell of hayburgers and hayfries. Life in the castle was divine. Not only was Spike one of her best friends, but he could cook like he had been under training with Gordon Prancey. Just about the first day she spent in the castle, Spike cooked up that very meal, and she cried when she ate it. She managed to get a few words out about how she hadn't eaten a hayburger since she was a foal, and none of the ones she had eaten came close to this level of tasteylicious. In the village, she would always eat boring sandwiches made from the most stale of bread one could imagine. How could anything even taste that boring and tasteless? If only she hadn't taken away their cu-

She actually slapped herself this time, not minding the presence of her friends looking at her like she had lost her mind. Spike was the first one to speak up, seconds after he had stopped looking like he wondered how much nine plus ten was. "Uhh, you okay there Starlight?"

Starlight's eyes went to pinpricks and she blushed slightly. She raised her front hoof defensively and started chuckling nervously. "Yeah! I t-thought I'd just... you know, uh.. A SPIDER! Yes, I think there was a spider on my face. Heh, took care of it, no reason to worry. What's for dinner? Smells great. Let's eat!"

She had managed to get over to the table and pour herself a cup of tea that had at the time she finished talking, overfilled and spilled the tablecloth underneath. Twilight couldn't help but look at her in worry. She did have a sneaking suspicion that Starlight would experience a bit of trauma from time to time, but to see it herself wasn't quite the same as expecting it.

Spike thankfully rescued the situation. "I feel ya sister." He commented after looking at the tea and shoving his own teacup aside. "There's only one thing to drink with this, and that is..." he paused, reaching for something under the table before pulling up a bottle with some dark liquid inside. "...sodapop!"

Starlight smiled and put the teapot back down on the table, smiling innocently at Twilight who could only roll her eyes. She quite enjoyed tea, thank you very much. Be it to hayburgers, daffodil sandwiches, salads, you name it. Any meal was tea-worthy.

Spike simply shrugged at Twilight, chugging down a gulp of coke before digging in to his burger. Twilight grimaced as ketchup splattered from his bite and hit her on the nose.

"Spike! Manners!" She lectured. Spike simply continued his onslaught on the poor burger, paying no mind to Twilight. Starlight raised a hoof to her mouth to contain a giggle that didn't go unnoticed by Twilight.

Twilight took a calming sigh and addressed Starlight. "Excuse him. So, Starlight, have you gotten used to the castle yet? I know this is usually the time of day when you walk around to nowhere in particular."

Starlight nodded, smiling genuinely at the change of subject. "It's still a lot to take in, but in terms of learning where things are I'm pretty sure I can at least find the exit with ease." She teased, pretend-mocking the layout of her friends castle.

Twilight giggled. "That's good. I wouldn't want you to feel trapped." She paused, taking a more elegant bite of her food compared to her dragon friend. "I'll have you know, I was fairly confused at first as well. Though mostly I was dealing with the loss of my old home here in Ponyville, I was very disoriented about this place." She finished, taking a sip from her tea. Starlight saw her friends expression fall a little at the mention of her old tree house that she had heard tales of before. She put on as comforting of a smile as she could muster to attempt to cheer up her friend. Funny how friends work that way, she thought.

"Well, I can't thank you enough for helping me through, Twilight. I'm so glad everything went well with Sunburst too!" Starlight exclaimed. Her smile fell a bit when she thought of another thing that had just recently given her another source of worry. "...Do you think... whatever it is, is going to be okay? I could have simply miscalculated the spell, or a spell of this caliber might work differently on things like him, or-" She was cut off by a claw that almost got shoved in her mouth.

"Staurlaurhgt, hrust rerax, mkay?" Spike said oh-so charmingly with a mouthful of burgery goodness. Starlight rolled her eyes and decided against thinking more of it, as they had already been through this a million times already. The creature. The creature that she had presumably 'saved'. The princesses seemed to commend her for her quick wits and skill with magic, but she thought otherwise. Surely there would have been another way but to use an incomplete spell to attempt a rescue.

Twilight, as usual, was not supportive of this argument. She was very proud of how fast Starlight had acted and insisted that she relax and not worry too much about it. As far as they were concerned, the spell had worked perfectly. Thought the creature had lost consciousness, it was still breathing and didn't seem to suffer any damage to it's body from the magical scan that the princesses had preformed on it.

They did, however, mention that it had suffered a bit of head trauma. As far as they were willing to dodge this matter into it simply being 'stress' for the creature, Starlight knew that this was most likely the spell's side effects. She could hate herself as much as she wanted, but she did take comfort in the fact that the creature would be very dead right now had she not acted faster. After all, she was one of the first ponies to get within range of it when it was closest to the ground, with the princesses being a bit behind and the only other ponies in close proximity being bystander citizens and a few of Twilight's friends.

That leaves one question. "Where did it come from?" Starlight asked, taking hold of her burger in her magical grasp. Twilight paused from her tea and looked towards her student with a frown. "I'm not sure. But I'm willing to bet my hooves that it had something to do with the Crystalling. How could it possibly not be connected?"

Starlight sighed and shrugged, directing her eyes over to her burger floating in front of her, as if it was carrying all the answers she needed. These thoughts unfortunately made her lose her appetite.

The creature that mysteriously fell from the skies in the Crystal Empire sure was a query. A creature unknown to ponyfolk, even to the princesses! It was some strange, lanky creature that resembled some sort of ape. While apes aren't the most common animals around, there are plenty of references about them in books about wildlife, but none mention them ever wearing clothes or backpacks. Besides, this 'ape' seemed quite... evolved from what any of the books that Twilight had found described about them. It had only a tuft of hair on the top of it's head, and a short brown beard. It's face was small and flat, with a tiny nose in the middle with equally tiny eyes. It wore a dark green jacket and some baggy outdoor pants, probably to protect it from the weather due to it's lack of fur. Lastly, it had some form of footwear strapped to it's hindlegs that seemed very sturdy.

Not like anypony checked under it's clothes to check if it did have fur or anything. Since the scan said no damages, there was no need. Besides, since it almost had no fur on it's exposed parts that weren't covered in clothing, they made this conclusion based on that.

The creature's backpack was of course, searched. The princesses needed to make sure no threat was to be made. Inside they found a small array of snacks of unknown origin. Something called a 'Snickers' Other than that it was mostly empty except for a pocket knife and a small leathery document containing some cards and papers they could not identify. The knife was confiscated by Twilight for safety, and it stayed with them in the castle for now.

After a lot of more than they thought they would have to deal with after the Crystalling, they arranged for the creature to be transported back with them to Ponyville for it's recovery and for the hope that it would wake up the best place possible. If anypony could make this creature feel welcome, it would be Twilight and her friends. Starlight felt like she had some responsibility, since it was her that has rescued it, so she needed to help.

After realizing that she had been staring at her food for a long time, she rolled her eyes. She needed to take a trip to the spa. She spent too much time getting lost in thought.

As she opened her mouth to bite off a delicious piece of burger, she was rudely interrupted by a loud bang as the doors to the dining room busted open, a rainbow trail zooming into the room and almost crashing into the table before stopping in front of Twilight.

"Twilight! You gotta come, quick!" Rainbow spat into Twilight's face, appearing quite worried. Twilight rolled her eyes, and wiped her face from her friend's saliva. "What is it Rainbow?" She asked, not too amused that this was the second unwanted substance she had smeared over her face in the matter of a few minutes.

Rainbow wasted no time, taking hold of Twilight and taking off. Twilight yelped in surprise and made a snappy comment about how 'she had wings too' but Rainbow paid her no mind. Starlight looked at her burger in a 'I'll be back' kind of way, and despite herself she ran after her friend and did her best to keep up. She could just about hear the beginning of Rainbow's next sentence, which turned out to be all she needed to hear. "The weird thing is gone!"

Author's Note

Long wait, long chapter. Eye for an eye.

What will happen? Will our friend venture into a long, self-discovering journey, or will they hunt him down to offer him some burgers?

Only one way to find out.