//-------------------------------------------------------// Tugging On The Heartstrings -by Tune_storm- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prolouge //-------------------------------------------------------// Prolouge I had a very boring life before the incident. I lived in an old, boring house on an old, boring street in an old, boring city. I had a crappy job as an engineer for a company known as GloTech. This company was known for its production of teleporters and it was my job to create new models. However, coming up with ideas for these products were not as easy as it seems and I had been very distracted recently. A couple days before the incident, I was in my office trying to work on some designs for the new models that were due to my boss the next week. My colleague, however, was talking about how his teleporter malfunctioned one day and it transported him to some strange land he called Equestria. He said that there were miles of meadow and the greenest trees. I almost believed him, until he mentioned the talking ponies. I thought he had lost it, “Talking ponies? Are you listening to yourself?” “It’s true!” he said, “It may seem crazy, but it’s true!” I thought about what he had said until Friday, the night of the incident. I was programming the new model without any success. I would turn it on, enter the location I wanted to go to, but nothing would happen. Angry, I threw the dud teleporter on the ground. It suddenly started sparking a multitude of colors almost like a rainbow. Then a flash of bright, white light filled the room followed by a loud CRACK and darkness. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 I could feel myself falling, but my eyes refused to open and tell me how far until I hit the ground. I thought I heard someone, or something, scream in the distance. I tried to open my eyes again to see who it was, but I was still too weak. I gave up and waited for my death, falling from a dysfunctional teleporter onto the hard ground below. And then with another CRACK, I fell into unconsciousness. I heard voices around me as I started to wake up. I could barely open my eyes, but my eyesight was blurred so I could only see what appeared to be six different colored heads, and they were all talking to each other. “D-do y-y-you think it will be ok?” one of the heads asked referring to me as it. “I’ve crashed harder than that, it’ll be fine!” “I don’t understand. How did this thing get here? There is no science to explain this.” It was good to hear that something here could understand science and I could explain how I made my rather clumsy appearance. I then felt something hard poking my chest. “Are you sure this thing isn’t dead?” a high pitched and energetic voice asked. “Pinkie!” the last voice shouted in what sounded like a British accent, “Don’t touch it! What if it has germs!?” “She’s right!” this time a western-like accent, “It could be dangerous!” This, Pinkie, didn’t stop poking me, in fact, she start poking harder until another crack was heard from my chest. “AAAAAHHHHH…. CRAP!” I shouted sitting up out of shock, my eyes almost falling out of my skull. The six beings screamed back at me as I fell back into the dark void of unconsciousness. I woke up in a bed that night in a strange room all alone. “Where the heck am I?” I said aloud not expecting an answer. “You are in the hospital.” The response startled me. I turned around to see a minty green unicorn sitting in a corner next to an open window. I looked around her to see where the voice was coming from. “Never been in a hospital before?” The voice startled me again only this time I realized that the unicorn was taking. I stood there staring at it my heart beating much quicker than it should be. “Are you ok?” I didn’t have time to respond as I faded in unconsciousness for the third time that day. I woke up again in the same room the next morning. I looked around to make sure that I was actually alone this time. No unicorns, no ponies, I’m good, I thought to myself. I tried to sit up but a sharp pain ran along my ribs. There was some sort of cast wrapped around my torso. My arms could move, but it was extremely uncomfortable to move around in. My leg also had a cast around it, but it was much more comfortable. I sat in the bed thinking to myself, wondering where I was when suddenly, the door to my room opened. A purple unicorn with a navy blue mane and tail both with a pink highlight walked in. “Are you feeling ok, Dave?” I had no idea how to react. Not only is she talking but she knows my name. “I feel… alright, I guess. How do you know my name?” I asked. “It was on your briefcase that you dropped when you fell from the sky.” “You saw that?” “Yes. How did you manage to do that?” she asked as her horn started to glow a purple color. I saw a feather and a note book tinted the same color float through the air. “It’s a long and… complicated story,” I responded staring at the floating notes. “Do you have the briefcase you mentioned earlier?” “We do! But you need to talk to Princess Celestia first.” “Princess who?” “Never mind, I will explain everything to you while we walk to the court room.” The unicorn trotted over to the door, “We must not keep the Princess waiting.” I sat up with a grunt of pain and managed to lift my legs off the bed and stand up. I then limped over to the door where the unicorn waited impatiently and started to hobble to the court room. The unicorn said her name was Twilight, and she told me the story about how Princess Celestia came to power. It also turned out that Twilight was Celestia’s student and how she had been assigned very important tasks. She never did stop talking, we got to the court room just as she was about to ask questions about me. “I guess we will talk about that another time. Good luck with the Princess!” She smiled as the court room doors were opened by two pegasi, both wearing golden armor. The guards pointed inside the room, an obvious gesture that said “Get in the room, now.” I walked into the court room followed by the two pegasi. At the end of the room, a white alicorn, who was much taller than all the other ponies, waited to speak with me. Twilight was sitting next her as well as a black pegasus with a purple and blonde mane and matching tail. They were both whispering to each other until the alicorn spoke. “Who are you and where have you come from?” she asked in a calm voice. “Umm… Oh! My name is Dave and I come from Earth.” I still was not used to the talking ponies yet so she caught me off guard. “Dave of Earth, do you know why you are here in Equestria?” “Well actually, I don’t even know how I got here in the first place!” I said with a little chuckle. I saw the black stallion smirk and whisper something into Twilight’s ear. “I see then. Well I believe you should stay here within the castle until the other ponies get used to a being like you.” She turned to walk away but I stopped her. “I prefer to be called a human, Miss…” She turned back at me with a shocked look. “Celestia, Princess Celestia.” She looked over and met eyes the black pegasus and nodded. “You will be under the supervision of my agent, Tunestorm, until you chose to go back to your home. In the meantime, you are not to leave the castle grounds. Is that understood?” “Yes, your majesty!” It felt a little weird saying that, but what the heck. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 The black pegasus from the court room escorted me back to my room. He didn’t say anything and I could see he kept sneaking peeks at me with his deep, purple eyes. He was strange compared to the rest of the ponies I had seen today. He didn’t seem to be as friendly, he certainly wasn’t talkative, and he was the darkest shade of black I had seen in the colorful world of Equestria. We walked in silence until we had gotten back to my room and then Tunestorm decided to talk. “If you don’t feel comfortable, just call me. I won’t be far.” “I’ll keep that in mind.” “Once you are granted permission to leave the castle you will be fine. In the mean time, you should rest a little and maybe take a shower. No offense, you seem a bit battered from your fall.” And with that, Tunestorm left me alone in my room. I decided he was right, so I slept for a little. I woke up about an hour after I fell asleep. That was when I noticed my greasy brown hair. I got up and walked into the bathroom. It was made out of the same stone my room was. The only difference was that the bathroom ceiling was about a foot taller. I stripped down and turned on the water. The warm water was amazing, much better than my old shower back in my world where all I got felt like ice. I noticed that somepony had been courteous enough to supply my shower with soap and shampoo. They had a familiar, minty scent to them, but it helped to wash all of the dirt off of my body and out of my hair. I turned off the shower just in time to hear footsteps out of the bathroom door. I decided I would be polite and wait for whoever it was to leave before I left the bathroom. The door closed with a slam. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist. I poked my head out of the bathroom door to make sure the pony had left. Nopony was there, or so I thought. I walked over to the bed and noticed my briefcase had been returned to me. I opened it to see If I could find anything that could possibly help me get back home from this crazy horse land. “What are you looking for?” The question made me jump and drop the towel. I turned around to see the minty unicorn sitting in the corner (sitting like a human, I should mention) I couldn’t check from behind the door. She sat there completely unfazed by the sight of a naked human. I grabbed the towel and wrapped myself up again. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “I should ask you the same thing. A human in Equestria with nothing to explain why, it all seems very strange doesn’t it?” The answer was a little obvious. “Well no crap it’s strange! Wait how do you know what species I am when nobod- excuse me, nopony has even heard of humans?” The unicorn shook her head, “You aren’t the first human to crash here.” “I’m not?” “Of course not!” The unicorn said with a small giggle, but stopped when there was a knock at the door. “Hey you alright in there, Dave?” It was Tunestorm. I looked over at the door, “Yeah, I’m fine.” “Is there somepony in there?” I looked back to find that the unicorn was gone. “Uh. No, nopony is in here.” //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 During my stay in Canterlot Castle, Twilight had decided to teach me about Equestrian history, current events, and technology. After she tought me, Twilight didn't hesitate to ask about my races' history and ethics. However, I was unsure about telling her how humans lived and how they are a bit disturbing especially for a peace loving being such as herself. "Pleeeaaassee," Twilight begged with half-lidded, twinkling eyes that seemed to be moving closer to my face, slowly but surely. I stopped her as soon as our noses touched. "Uhh, Twilight?" She stopped and pulled away from me with an embarrassed look on her face. "Is there something you would like to tell me?" I asked starting to pet her mane slowly but she shook my hand off. "N-no. I think... we should... start finding a way to get you home." she laughed nervously as she started to look through a book which I thought contained different traveling spells. But upon further investigation, I found out that the book was a guide on flirting. That was when I discovered Twilight Sparkle had a crush on me, and for some strange reason, I had a crush on her as well. About two weeks later, I was called to Celestia's courtroom once more. "Dave, I am giving you permission to move outside of the castle grounds and live amoung the citizens of Equestria." "But, your highness, won't the ponies outside of the castle be a bit... unsure about me living with them?" Celestia seemed to giggle a little, "Your presence in Equestria is know around the kingdom. There are ponies that may be uncomfortable with living near a new species, but things like that take time." "Thank you, it was honor to stay here." Another strange thing to say. "Now, Twilight has offered to let you stay with her in Ponyville until your home is complete." I swore i heard giggling somewhere in the courtroom, but i pushed that thought out of my head to make way for my flow of questions. "What do you mean my home? How am I gonna get home? Can you do anything to help?" As helpful as Celestia had been before, she didn't answer my questions. "Only worry about the important tasks." And with that, I was escorted back to my room to pack what little belongings I had with me. Most of it consisted of clothes and damaged parts to the teleporter that brought me to Equestria. We left on a train about an hour after I had packed everything. The cable car we sat in was one room with a round table where Twilight, Tunestorm, and I sat while gaurds stood by each door in pairs, but was it really necessary to bring the gaurds and Tunestorm? I asked him and he said he lived in Ponyville as well so he wasn't exactly "on duty" like the other gaurds. "But I can always tell the other stallions to leave if you want some... alone time," he whispered as he moved his eyes in Twilight's direction and back to me. She must have heard what he said because the next thing I knew, Twilight was laughing nervously and her face was a bright crimson. "Guess I will leave now then! Have fun!" and then it was just me... and Twilight... alone. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 I know it has been a while, but here it is! I am sorry if it is to short for the wait, but I have been occupied with school work and other personal goals. Thanks for being patient, enjoy! Twilight and I sat there in silence for what seemed like hours. She had buried her face in her forehooves as soon as Storm had left the train car. I couldn't tell if she was crying, trying to cover her embarrassed face, or both. I reached my hand out and gently placed it on her head. I could feel her trembling so she was crying. I stroked her mane in an attempt to calm her down. I felt her lighten up a little as I brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She watched me from across the table. "Do you ever feel left out?" Twi suddenly asked me. It was a little random given the current situation. "Left out? What do you mean?" "I don't know, all of my friends back home all have stallions lined up at their door and I don't get any attention." She let out a sigh and then suddenly slammed her hooves on the table and started crying out loud. "Then they all go out with their 'dates' leaving me all alone." "Well what about Storm?" "He's a party pony." "So?" I asked not thinking that it mattered. "It means he has no commitment." A muffled "I do to!" came from the other side of the door followed by laughter from the other guards. I couldn't help but chuckle at the interruption and neither could Twilight, however, she started to sob just a little after. I didn't know what to do after that, but i couldn't watch the purple unicorn cry anymore. I got out of my seat being mindful not to hit my head on the ceiling of the car, walked to the other side of the table and picked up Twilight. "W-what are you doing?" she asked between a sob. I sat back down in her seat holding Twi between my arms almost like a mother holds her baby. I could smell her perfume, lavender. I came back to reality realizing she was still waiting for an answer. However, I didn't answer with words, no. I kissed her, and I don't mean one of those cheesy kiss on the cheek you see in teen drama shows. This kiss was on the lips, long and romantic, both of us taking time to savor the moment. I broke the kiss. Her face turned red, but she smiled and that's all I wanted see. I suddenly heard what sounded like coins hitting hooves. Where they betting on whether or not I would kiss her? I mumbled a few curse words hoping that the train ride would be over. Sure enough, we arrived in Ponyville about half an hour after Twilight and I had our "session" as Tunestorm had called it. Personal Guard or not, I wanted this "Party Pony" out of my sight. Luckily, I wouldn't need any of his help anytime soon. He had offered to give me a tour, but Twilight decided she could give me a tour. "Oh I see," he said winking at Twilight, "you should drop by the club sometime! I'm gonna play a new song I've been working on." "Oh sure thing, Storm." Twi answered before I could say anything "Alright, see you to later." He flew off leaving Twilight and me, all alone, just us. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 Twilight had, for some strange reason, EVERYTHING planned out. "Eleven o'clock arrive at Ponyville, twelve o'clock lunch at Sugarcube corner with Pinkie Pie, one o'clock visit Sweet Apple Acres, two thirty tea with Rarity." It seemed like an extremely overwhelming tour, first day in Ponyville and meet EVERYPONY and see EVERYTHING. I felt like telling Twi that I just wanted a simple tour and then maybe spend a little time at home and possibly find out how to get back to my real home. But, then again, the unicorn seemed to be enjoying herself, lecturing me about different landmarks and the town's history. We had finally finished the tour at Twilight's home, the library. "Knew it," I said aloud making Twi blush a little. She showed me where I would be staying, a bed big enough for me and a pony was set up in a large room underneath the main room of the library. "I'm going to live in your basement?" I questioned. "I wouldn't call it that," Twilight said with a strange, lustful grin "It's usually my 'lab'." "Your... lab?" Twilight responded with an innocent giggle but I never got a real answer. I decided to go to the club that and see Tunestorm (as much as I wanted to punch him in the face). I arrived at the club at nine o'clock. It was almost like one of the clubs I had seen back in the human world, just a box of a building with no windows and just one door with two strong looking men (or in this case stallions) on both sides checking off guests. The line wasn't too long, but it would have been at least an hour long wait to get in if Tunestorm didn't see me, then again it would be pretty hard not to see me considering I'm the only 5 foot 6 hairless ape in this world. "Yo, Dave, I knew you would show up! Come chill with me, bro!" I followed Storm pass the bouncers into a large stair case lit with neon lights of every color. "Damn, I feel like i'm going to have a seizure," I said as I strained my eyes trying to avoid looking into the bright lights. Storm laughed "That hasn't happened in years!" "But it's happened before?" "Oh yeah. It was my first show, blasted a bit too much bass and abused the strobe lights a little. The poor mare passed out on the dance floor. Luckily, we got her to the hospital, but she now has permanent brain damage and a loopy eye." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This Royal Guard was responsible for mentally impairing somepony!? I could only hope he wasn't playing the same song that night. We got to the bottom of the staircase when Tunestorm was suddenly surrounded by fans. "Mares please, I will be with you in a few minutes. Let me have a drink first." The ponies dispersed and Storm lead me to the bar and ordered us some sort of alcoholic beverage that wasn't half bad. Storm chugged his and started asking me some, i guess, serious questions regarding when I would be finished with my teleporter. After about two more drinks, Storm decided to mingle with the mares on the dance floor. "Typical party pony." I turned around to so a minty green unicorn, but not just any minty green unicorn. This was the one spying on me while I was in the hospital in Canterlot Castle and in my room. "You again?" I asked "Is there any other pony that would be stalking the only human in Equestria?" I thought about it, "Well Twilight Sparkle given the recent events that have happened." I tried to stop myself from talking but I was starting to become a little drunk from the three bottles of whatever I was drinking. "You shouldn't trust her, she knows nothing about your kind." She gave me a cold glare. "Who are you?" I finally asked "Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings."