Ingar Magnusson walked through halls crowded with ponies, their bright colors swirling around him like an endless sea. He glanced down a hallway as he passed. Was that the direction he needed to go? He couldn't remember. He'd made so many turns. Head back and to the right, that was what the pony at the front of the school had said. But which way was back, anymore? Which way was right? All the halls looked the same. Had he seen that door before?

The looks he kept getting from the ponies didn't help. Hadn't they heard about the Asgardian refugees living in Equestria? How one of them was coming to the School, as a diplomatic gesture?

A diplomatic gesture that pulled him from his home, his family and his friends...

“We can’t be isolated,” King Thor had told him. “We all need to get out of our comfort zones and make friends with the ponies, and all the creatures, who inhabit this new world of ours.”

He’d just said that to make Ingar feel better. Maybe they ‘all’ needed to get out of their comfort zones, but Ingar didn’t see anyone else leaving everyone they’d ever known and the new city that already looked like home to attend school with hundreds of complete strangers.

“It won’t be so bad once you get used to it,” his father, Magnus, god of strength, had said. “You’ll make friends and settle in quickly.”

How was he supposed to do that? Just pick someone… somepony… out of all the students in the entire school? Strike up a conversation and hope for the best? He couldn’t meet everyone, so how was he supposed to decide who he would meet?

“You won’t be alone!” his mother had said. “There are lots of other students attending the school from all kinds of cultures. I’m sure they’re struggling to fit in with ponies, too!”

If that was true, he didn’t see any of them. Just ponies, as far as the eye could see. Some had wings, some had horns, some had neither. Some were sparkly, and he could almost see through them. Some of them had stripes. It didn’t matter. They were all ponies. Young though he was, he towered over them all.

He grumbled to himself and adjusted his satchel. Stupid school. Stupid Thor, sending him here. Stupid Hela and Surtur, destroying… destroying his home…

He wasn’t going to cry. He was a god, for Odin’s sake! He was a member of the proud race of Aesir, he wasn’t going to let a little homesickness bother him!

He turned around yet another corner. Might as well. He was thoroughly, thoroughly lost, but maybe eventually he'd stumble back out into the front of the school, where he could get directions again. There was a map hanging up in the front of the school, probably to help lost students--but it didn't help much when they had to go off memory.

What was that he was passing--a bathroom? He was pretty sure that was what the sign meant. One of the ponies had mentioned that before, he was pretty sure. Maybe the purple one. They marked their bathrooms with silhouettes of mares and stallions.

Was he supposed to use a pony bathroom? How did pony bathrooms even work? Questions for another time. He felt awkward enough already. More concerning was the fact that he'd passed it before. Or maybe he was thinking of another, identical bathroom.

He reached another intersection and turned left, more for the sake of it than anything else. He'd heard ponies were very friendly. Any of them would be willing to help him, he was sure. But that meant picking someone, somepony, out of the crowd to ask. Picking some... pony to inconvenience. Maybe, if he just looked as lost as possible, somepony would notice and offer to help him. It would still be awkward, but at least he wouldn't have to ask.

Another corner. He stood there for a while, looking down both ways, perhaps overly dramatizing it. He was uncomfortably aware of ponies' eyes on him, but none of them were bold enough to talk to him. He moved off down the right path.

Just as he turned, it occurred to him that he was going about it all wrong. No wonder he was going in circles, if he kept turning randomly! If he kept going in a straight line, he was sure to hit something. He might at least find the edge of the school, maybe somewhere with windows, and if he went along the outside wall, he was sure to reach the front again. Or perhaps the headmare's office--the place he was supposed to be going in the first place--would be on the edge. A boy could hope.

The hallway dead-ended up ahead, reaching another, perpendicular hallway, but not continuing through it. The light in the perpendicular hall seemed a little bit different, warmer, more natural. There was a door set in the wall. Ingar picked up the pace, aiming for the door, and without thinking he reached to open it.

He burst out into the sunlight, and a wide grassy field opened up before him. This was definitely not the front of the school--he couldn't even remember seeing it from there! But at least he was outside now, so maybe if he went around the building he'd find his way.

Before he could continue on this train of thought, though, he noticed the ponies who were out on the field. Their laughter drifted towards him, and a ball bounced between them--they must have been playing some sort of game. But what really caught his attention was the ponies themselves. More specifically, they weren't ponies, at least not all of them. As he took notice of them, they also took notice of him, and the ball fell into their midst as their attention turned from their game.

Maybe his mother had been right after all. There were other creatures at the school than just ponies! As they began trotting and flying interestedly towards him, he looked them up and down, trying to describe each one. There was a normal pony, and then a large and furry creature, equally grounded. One flew on thin, clear wings that buzzed, and with her pupil-less eyes, she almost looked like an insect in the shape of a pony, rather than a pony itself. There was a small dragon--that he recognized--and two creatures with front halves like birds, and backs of a pony and a lion. Altogether, it made up for quite an assorted party.

"Hi!" said the front-half-bird-back-half-pony, who'd gotten ahead of the rest. "I'm Silverstream! Who are you? What are you? Wait, oh no, is that rude?"

"No, perfectly reasonable," Ingar said. The creature seemed very excitable, but friendly enough, and he didn't want to make her feel upset. "My name is Ingar Magnusson, and I come from Asgard. Well, New Asgard, I suppose."

Silverstream gasped. "OHMYGOSH! I heard about the Asgard refugees, and that made me so sad, because I know what it's like to flee from your home, and I wished there was something I could do, but no one told me they were going to be at the school! And now I get to meet one! And be their friend so it won't be so sad! This is so great!" She reared up and tackled him in a hug, wrapping her wings around his body. He tensed, startled, and she pulled back. "Sorry! Sorry. I get excited. But it's great to meet you!"

"Ingar, huh?" the dragon said. "I'm Smolder." When the others looked at her, she sighed and pointed to each of them in turn. "Yona, Sandbar, Gallus, and Ocellus." The dragon scowled at her companions. "There, ya happy now?" Ingar could only nod vaguely and hope he would remember all the names.

"We were just playing a game of buckball," the pony--Sandbar--said. "Care to join us?"

Ingar would be a fool to turn down the offer. It could be the first step in making friends with the only creatures he might, someday, fit in with. "I'd be honored, although... I do not know how to play."

"Oh, we can teach you!" Ocellus chirped eagerly. "Come on, it's really simple!"

Ingar tipped his head. "As you wish. Lead on."

"Ooh, you talk so old-fashioned!" Silverstream giggled. "Wait, no, was that bad again? I keep saying such stupid things!"

"It's fine," Ingar said, trying to pretend it didn't sting a little. More than he wanted to admit. But it wasn't her fault, it had just slipped out.

Gallus flapped back towards the field and picked up the ball they'd been throwing around. "There are two teams in buckball, each with three positions."

Smolder grabbed the ball out of his claws. "They were designed for the three types of ponies--earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns."

Smolder tossed the ball down to Yona, who understood without missing a beat. "Earth ponies buck ball!" she exclaimed. "That where name come from!" She kicked out, launching the ball into the air.

Silverstream swooped over and caught it. "Pegasi try to keep the ball from reaching the unicorns behind them! Then they toss it down to the earth pony on their team." She dropped it to Sandbar, who bucked it across the field.

Ocellus levitated a basket into the air and caught the ball in it. "The unicorns try to catch the ball. If they do, it's a score for their team!"

"Interesting." It was an easy game to follow, for which Ingar was grateful. There was just one problem. "But it appears to be for only six players."

Six pairs of eyes blinked awkwardly back at him. Someone mumbled "Oh," but Ingar didn't see who.

"It's all right," he said. "Perhaps- Maybe I'll just watch for a while. To make sure I understand the flow of the game."

"You can be referee!" Silverstream suggested eagerly. "We've been needing someone to start us off!" She grabbed the ball out of Ocellus's basket and tossed it to him. "You bounce it on the ground between the 'earth pony' players, and then it's easier to start the game."

He shrugged. "All right."

He tossed the ball into the air. It peaked, red against the blue sky, then fell. It bounced weakly a few times, never higher than a few inches. Soon it was rolling slowly off the court.

Sandbar stopped it with a back hoof, then kicked it across the ground back towards Ingar. "Guess we should've been more specific. Throw it against the ground so it actually bounces."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Ingar leaned down clumsily and picked it up.

"Hey, it's all cool. We didn't tell you any better."

Ingar nodded awkwardly and straightened. "All right. Here it comes." His parents had told him that he would be stronger than the average mortal. He should probably throw it pretty gently. Lightly, he tossed it downwards. Again, it barely bounced. "Sorry. I'll throw it harder."

He tried for something relatively balanced this time. Not no-effort, but not his full strength either. The ball soared above both Sandbar's and Yona's heads, and nearly topped his before it arced back down to the earth. Yona was ready for it and bucked it as it fell, and the game began. The ball flew back and forth so rapidly Ingar could barely follow it, but with a sudden thunk it vanished into Ocellus's bucket.

She pulled it out in her magic and passed it to Ingar, and when his hands touched the ball, he could feel her aura. It flowed over his hands like water, cool but not cold, and tiny sparks drifted in it and tingled as they brushed past his hands. It was bursting with energy, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Then her aura faded, and the feeling passed.

He shook himself and bounced the ball again, a bit carelessly. It drifted off to the side. Sandbar still bucked it squarely and sent it straight to Silverstream. His mind wasn't on the match, though--it was caught on that feeling of magic. He barely noticed that Smolder was holding the ball out to him until she practically waved it in his face.

After that, he started paying attention again, and within a few more rounds was feeling pretty comfortable with the way the game worked. He certainly understood it well enough to replace someone as goalkeeper, the only part he could really imitate--Smolder held the bucket in her hands, so he certainly could as well.

But nobody offered to let him exchange. And he was still a stranger, while they were all friends--what right did he have to ask them to move for him?

So he kept bouncing the ball, until they decided to end the game. Then they all agreed to get lunch at the cafeteria, and they invited him to join them--after, he noticed, they'd already discussed what they were doing next. It wasn't that Ingar objected to going. In fact, he was getting very hungry. And he suspected they hadn't even noticed.

It was a start. But he was far from part of the group yet.

Author's Note

You are currently running AU version 2.0. Features:
-Kept Quicksilver alive
-Upgraded Rainbow Dash with Iron Man suit
-Upgraded Scootaloo with Spiderman suit
-Added magical books like Sunset's, linking ponies and Avengers
-Upgraded Twilight's mane and power levels
-Upgraded Discord to Harmony
-Removed Thanos
-Added Asgardian Refugees to Equestria area