Equilibrium, Book 1: The First Human.

August, 1st, 1000 C.E.
Ponyville.
7:04 A.M.

The first week in Equestria has been a blast. Twilight gave me this journal to write in and so far everything has been just peachy. Got back into my work out routine much to the enthusiasm of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Those three are a load of fun to have around at any given time. After a little time to recuperate and adjust to this new way of life, Twilight took me on a tour of the town while introducing me to the rest of the townsfolk.

Oh, that's right the party! Pinky through me a welcome to Equestria party and just like the show says it was amazing! There wasn't a whole lot of pony's there but that was ok. I found it to be just as much fun with the six and there extended family consisting of Spike and the C.M.C. Let me tell you those three little fillies are the epitome of the term diabetic coma.

All in all, it's been smooth sailing so far. I'm trying to enjoy these day's of normalcy while they last. The show and this world may be linked but this world is vastly different from the one on the show. The normal show was hectic at the best of time's so I can only imagine what's in store for me now that all of the ponies have suped up magical powers. Hopefully, I can survive this crazy world that I now find myself becoming a part of.

"That should be a good place to stop for now." I closed my eye's and took a deep breath.

"Man it's still hard to believe I'm here." I sat up from the desk Twilight had provided for me and closed my journal. Today was set to be a long day as Applejack had to ask Twilight if she could head over to Sweet Apple Acre's and help out with the year's harvest. I volunteered to help and luckily AJ agreed to let me tag along.

"Here's hoping that the show was purposefully blowing AJ's stubbornness out of proportion. I stretched out my limbs and looked over at the clock on my desk.

"7 o'clock. Perfect." I said as I grabbed my long sleeved button up and slid it over my t-shirt. I then hopped down the stair's and grabbed my shoes at the front door and with a turn of the knob I was out in ponyville proper. I took a deep breath as I entered the center of town and was instantly reminded of just where I was. I'd like to think that after a week of living amongst the ponyvillians I wouldn't be quite so intimidating to them. Apparently not.

Sure I got a few smiles and waves from time to time. But more often then not I got a few skittish eye glances and looks of nervous trepidation. Even a few scowls for good measure. Still, I tried to show them I was of no threat by smiling and waving back no matter what form of greeting I got. Twilight's Libary was situated on the other end of town so unfortunately for me whenever I had something to do in town I had to go through it.

"Please lord let this day go smoothly." I prayed as I continued my trek to the dirt path that lead to Sweet Apple Acres.

7:37 A.M.

"Well howdy, John," AJ shouted as John made his way up the dirt path to the main house. He smiled as he hopped over the gate with one hand and waved with the other.

"Hey AJ." He said as he landed on his feet and made his way over to Twilight and company as she bucked an apple tree causing a rain of apples to fall into some basket's that had been arranged around the base of the tree. Twilight gave him a soft smile.

"Hey took you long enough." She said as she levitated the baskets onto a small cart she had hitched up next to her tree. John smiled as he made his way over picking up apples as he went.

"Well, I had to put something down in that journal you gave me." He chuckled as he handed them over to Applejack who looked them over and put them into the keep or give away pile's she had stacked up behind her. Twilight shook her head.

"Oh, by the way, are you sure you don't mind me telling the Princess's about you?" Twilight asked as she made her way over to her next apple tree. John just waved it off.

"I'd rather talk to them now than later." He said as he hauled Twilight's cart over to her tree.

"Thanks." She said as she got into position and with a mighty buck had apple's raining down upon them. John caught a few of them on the way down and set them in the back of the cart.

"So when can I expect this grand audience?" John asked as the trio moved from tree to tree. Twilight thought about it.

"Well, you already met Luna earlier in the week." She thought about it.

"So I would say at most we have a week top's before we get a letter back from Celestia asking all of us to meet her in Canterlot." She looked at John with some pity.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" She asked placing a hoof on John's side. He looked at her and smiled before patting her on her head.

"It's ok Twilight." He said with a huff as he hauled a basket full of apple's onto the cart. She just gave him a smirk as she trotted over to her next tree. The three of them settled into a steady rhythm of Twilight bucking the apples, while John hauled the cart around and AJ checked for any stragglers. At half past noon, Big Mac came over from the northern field's to tell the group about lunch.

"Come on Y'all," AJ said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and trotted up the dirt path to the old farmhouse. The trio made some small talk as they walked and John learned one that day.

"So Twilight I have one very important question for you?" He asked to which she nodded.

"Go right ahead." She gave him a soft smile as he thought about his next words.

"Why are you afraid of quesadilla's?"

12:52 P.M.

John groaned as he hauled himself off the ground and walked through the streets of ponyville.

"Ok never ask her about quesadilla's ever again." He thought as made his way to the local gym.

"I really need to get a work out routine going." mused as he felt the burning in his leg's return.

"Helping out on the farm?" Came a voice from up above. John looked up to see Rainbow Dash hanging in the air as she swooped down ahead of him and landed just off to his left. He nodded but was curious.

"How'd you know?" He asked as she joined him on his treck to his destination. She smirked.

"Because you smell like apple's and sweat." She smirked as he smelled himself. Sure enough, Dash was spot on. John just chuckled.

"Wow with a nose like that Dash you could be part bloodhound." He smirked as she swatted at him with her wing laughing as he ducked out the way. She smirked as she continued to walk next to him.

"Say's the shaved diamond dog." She shot back sticking her tung out. John just laughed as he waved her off.

"Take's one to know one Dash." He said. Dash just giggled as she trotted next to him. Slowly she began to extend a wing and the only warning John got was the hair on his ass standing on end before a jolt of electricity wound it's way up his tailbone and through his spine.

"Gah!" He stuttered as he swatted at Dash's wing while she retracted it and began to snicker. John chuckled and waved her off.

"Sure laugh it up fuzzball." He smirked at her. "Just you wait. Payback suck's and with pinky on my side we'll be able to get you sooner or later." He vowed. Dash smirked right back.

"Oh, I can't wait for that day to come." She said as the two kept walking in silence as John took in the sights of the town around him.

"So how was your first week in Equestria?" Dash asked trying to keep the silence at bay. John just smiled even wider before he burst out in a fit of giggles.

"It has been just-" He paused trying to find the right word. "I dare say it's been heavenly but that's the closest I can get without going overboard." He said as they got to there destination. Holding open the door he let Dash in first, she trotted in and looked around.

"Perfect." She said as she noticed the place was barely even occupied. Looking around she noticed an untouched set of wing weights. Trotting over to them she set to work adjusting the weight on them until she got it just right. She looked over to John who was looking around the place. She chuckled and waved at him motioning for him to come over. He obliged.

"If you're looking for something to do they have a set of weights for minitour's over there." She said pointing to the back of the gym. He looked back and saw the gear.

"Thank's but for right now I just need a shower and then a nice heaping helping of protein," he said as he continued to look around for the showers. Dash nodded and pointed to what John had thought was a dressing when he first saw it. It was a fairly big doorway covered over by a red cloth of some kind.

"Thanks, Dash," John said as he made his way over to the door. Dash smirked.

"Oh and John?" She said catching his attention. He looked back at her just as he got to the curtain. She smirked.

"Whatever you do don't drop the soap." She laughed as his face lit up and he shook his head most likely trying to not think about anything lude.

"Thank's for the mental strain Dash." He said as he opened the curtain and walked in.

"Any time." He heard her call out as she continued her work out.

1:00 P.M.

John had taken a while to get up the courage to walk into the public shower's completely naked but as soon as he did he made a beeline for the nearest unoccupied shower which thankfully was a few feet down from the doorway. Taking a deep breath he took his clothes and put up on the top rack before he turned on his shower trying to shut out the fact that there were no wall's to hide his nude form from everypony here. He noticed several other ponies in the shower's who all gave him a once over as he entered but then went back to there own business as they saw who and what it was.

"Thank God no pony I know is here." He said as he turned the hot water on and stood there. Slowly he began to relax as the water seemed to wash away all of his worry's. Just as he was starting to relax however he began to feel like he was being watched. Slowly opening up one eye he scanned the room bearly taking more than a passing glance at the occupants of the various shower's. Not really knowing what to look for he just shrugged it off as his mind playing tricks on him.

"Never should have told her that one about the soap." He mumbled as he grabbed a bottle of what he thought was shampoo. It was hard to tell sometime's with the difference in some of their everyday item's being as plain as day while other's took some getting used to and other just didn't make any sense whatsoever. Taking a scrungy from the shower wall he began to lather himself up. Just as he reached his chest, however, he felt a soft tickling sensation as the hair's on his body began to stand on end.

"Now what?" He asked as he rinsed the lather from his hand and then off of his face. Looking around he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just more ponies. Some wet, other's drying off and still others chatting as they sat down and let the water run over themselves.

Meanwhile Outside In The Gym.

1:00 P.M.

"And 100!" Dash said as she undid the wing weights and let them fall to the floor in a heap of metal and velcro. The feeling of her wingtips burning with the flow of oxygenated blood really got Dash going in the early afternoons. As she put up the equipment a stray thought entered her head.

"I wonder if the big guy has a work out routine." She mused. "I'll have to ask him when he comes out." She said as she to made her way to the showers.

"Until then time to go and cool off." Popping her head in the entrance she spied her human friend not too far from the door. Smirking she grabbed her towel from the rack full of them and trotted over to a shower right next to his.

"So how's it hanging?" She asked obviously scaring the daylights out of John who squeaked and spun around to face Dash. His face was as about as red as it could get. Thankfully for him, this kept the blood from flowing to other places. To his credit, he tried to forgo his kneejerk reaction to hide his body and just tried to play it cool.

"Oh hey there Dash." He asked feeling about 90% more awkward than usual. Sure the ponies ran around naked all the time and John had to force himself to not stare when a mare happened to pass by with her tail to high or if it was shoved to one side. But now here he was being reminded of why he forsook dirty thought's as one of his newest friend's and longtime cartoon character crush was talking to him while he was in the buff. Dash meanwhile was smirking up a storm as she lathered up her cyan coat while causing her newest friend to become a stammering pile of mush. This was one of her favorite pass time's now in the week she had come to know this strange new creature.

"So have a good work out?" John asked as he sat down on a provided bench and let the water fall over him while he rangled his mind from the gutter. Dash just chuckled.

"Yeah as much as I can have when I can't get out there and tear up the sky." She said as she used her wing to grab a bottle of shampoo. Looking over to see her friend using his hand's gave Dash an idea.

"Hey, John?" She asked as she dunked her head under the shower to the soap out of her eyes. He looked over to her with one eye open.

"Hum?" He asked back. Dash then turned on her puppy dog eyes.

"Would you mind getting my back for me?" She asked her voice filled with a fake innocence that any stallion not worth there weight in salt would fall for. Unfortunately for John, he loved salt, and just like the raw sodium chloride dissolving in the water, he found his will to resist her magenta irises eroding with every beat of his heart.

"Ok." He relented as Dash came and sat down in between his leg's while he sat on his bench. Slowly John began to rub in little amount's of shampoo as Dash leaned back. Looking around John couldn't help but feel a little nervous. No pony even batted an eyelash at the two but John couldn't help but feel dirty.

"Um, Dash is this ok?" He asked feeling very self-conscious right now. Dash sighed in content as she felt John's hand go to work on her back.

"Uh huh, you're doing great big guy." She said as she closed her eyes and let John's fingers go to work.

"Wow, this is really nice." She thought. "If all else fails he could get a job at the spa as a masseuse." She thought about it some more.

"I'll have to ask him if it's crossed his mind." She thought as she leaned back even more. To Dash's great annoyance, however, she felt John's hand's leave her as he reached her lower back.

"All right, all done." He said as he stood up grabbed his towel and quickly, although being mindful to not knock Dash upside her head with his legs, got out of his shower and headed out to the gym. Dash watched him go as a worried look crossed her face.

"Well, crap." She mulled her choices over in her head. "I hope I didn't cross some kind of line." She asked as she let the water wash off her back. Then she finished with the rest of her body ending with her wings. She gave a slight shudder of ecstasy as the warm water hit the base of her wing's but with all the willpower of a saint she held her mind on the hear and now and with the last of her body now thoroughly clean she grabbed her own towel before she thought better of it and draped it back on the rack. As she went through the doorway to the gym she slowly let her magic trickled throughout her body. Soon she had a small field of electricity crackling around her using the electromagnetic field around her body to heat up and dissipate the water into vapor.

"Ah much better." She said as she spied her bipedal friend standing off to the side of the front counter as he dug through his little money pouch. Dash cautiously made her way over studying his face for any hint of his mood. Sadly his guard was up and not even a trace of his embarrassment remained. He looked her way and smiled as he paid for there impromptu shower and workout.

"Hey wait a minute," Dash said as she fished around for her own pouch. Then she remembered. "It's in my saddlebags." She said as she stared at the ground in shame. John just laughed.

"Don't worry about it Dash. I got this." He said as the mare at the counter counted out the correct number of bits and hoofed over the rest. John thanked her and the duo trotted out of the gym. After a little while of walking in silence, Dash looked over to see John lost in thought.

"So." She said trying to break the tension still lingering from the shower.

"Hum," John said indicating that he was listening. Dash chuckled.

"I take it that you have different way's of taking showers were your from?" She asked as John just laughed. He waved his hand as he talked.

"Oh yeah, Dash. To say the least." He said as the two walked to the outskirts of Ponyville. Dash was curious.

"How so?" She asked as she noted their path and extrapolated were they could end up from this one little dirt road.

"Well for starters we don't have public shower's." He said holding up one finger.

"And we don't all shower together like that." He held up another finger.

Third, males and females don't shower together like we did unless there intimate with one another." He noted her face turning a tinge of red at that.

"And that's about it." He said as Dash began to mull over her previous action's.

"Oh man." She huffed.

"I knew this kind of stuff made you flustered and all but I never thought it was that big of a deal." She winced as she felt her face heat up.

"Hey, it's not your fault our cultures are so different about all of this." He held out a hand and panned it to the town.

"Every man, woman, and child in ponyville constantly walks around as naked as the day they were born." He smirked.

"That took me a whole week to get used to and I still need to work on it." He said as they continued to walk along the dirt road.

"It's not like we aren't going to make a mistake about the other's race, culture, and habits at some point and time." He stated as they slowed down a little. Dash just grumbled.

"Yeah well, I wish I could take it back now seeing as to how uncomfortable it made you." She said. John just laughed.

"Don't worry about it Dash. Think of it as a learning experience." He said as gave her a pat on the back. She gave a soft sigh at his touch and that reminded her.

"Oh yeah hey you still need a job right?" she asked. John thought about it.

"Well I'm still working at Sweet Apple Acre's and Fluttershy could use my help from time to time." He stated as the pony's house in question came into view. Dash smirked.

"Well let me tell you those hand's of your's are just perfect for a massage." She gave john's hands a stare that began to creep him out a little.