Equus. It's a world so much like Earth, but yet it's so different at the same time. Sure, it's inhabited by Humans, but these Humans have eyes and hair that aren't natural hair and eye colors for Humans. For instance, they can have hair that's naturally all colors of the rainbow, or even a mix of colors, and their eyes can be the same way!

In the year 2026, first contact was made when an experiment in Quantum Physics being conducted at the NASA research facility at Edwards Air Force Base opened a door to another world. A volunteer went through, and when he came back a few minutes later, he was not alone. He was accompanied by a male wearing a school uniform, who also had purple hair, and purple eyes. He identified himself as Prince Dusk Shine, and he said that he was the only prince out of the 4 rulers of Equestria, which was the nation that the portal opened up in.

It didn't take long for word of the experiment at Edwards to reach Washington DC, and when it did, the US President, Calvin Parker, went immediately to Edwards, so as to be able to meet with Prince Dusk. Their meeting went remarkably well, and after the President and his entourage went back through the portal, they met Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the 2 Diarchs of Equestria, as well as 5 of Dusk's friends, who together with Dusk were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. After this meeting was over, a number of trade agreements were signed between America and Equestria, and soon a few other portals were constructed, and travel between the worlds soon became commonplace. In fact, a number of Equestrians came to live in America, and a number of Americans came to live in Equestria. It was a sort of cultural exchange program, and it allowed some of us to learn more about each other's worlds.

This is where I come into the story. Hi, my name is Michael Edwards, but my friends call me Mick. I'm 20 years old, have dark hair and blue eyes, stand 5'11 and weigh 155lbs, and I hail from a tiny town in Nebraska called Mathis. It's so tiny that it's barely even on the map, and all it's known for is corn, small-town hospitality, and AMAZING home-style cooking! I was a volunteer fireman with the town's fire brigade, and I did love living in Mathis, but yet I felt that there was more to my life than living there. I wanted to see more of the world, and then I heard about the American-Equestrian exchange program. I knew that it was a long-shot, but I decided to apply for it.

I knew that I was probably never going to hear back from the agents behind the program, but imagine my shock when I did so! It turns out that they needed more volunteer firemen for a little town called Ponyville, and they specifically needed firemen who came from small towns. I fit their bill perfectly, so after saying goodbye to my parents, I packed my bags, and went to Union Station in Kansas City, MO, which was where the nearest portal was located, as well as the nearest office for the exchange program. I went there, and once all of my paperwork was checked, I was given my passport, wished the best of luck, and after having my luggage checked, (it was only 2 suitcases worth of clothes and other essential items!) I got everything back, and walked through the portal; through the portal, and into a whole new phase of my life!

When I arrived in Ponyville, I reported immediately to the exchange-program office there, where I once again had all of my paperwork checked, they also checked my passport, and after asking me what my occupation was, I was told to report to the Ponyville Firehouse No.1, where I was to meet Chief Blazing Embers. I did so after checking into the boarding house where all new incoming American arrivals would live to start out with, and after passing a few tests, I was assigned to the pumper truck, nicknamed "Gusher".

Yes, the firefighting equipment in Ponyville WAS a little bit old-fashioned, but yet it was nothing new to me, since the firefighting equipment in Mathis was the exact same way! I could tell that probably like Mathis, Ponyville was going to be a quiet little town without too many emergencies, and for the most part, I was right.

Every now and again though, someone would carelessly flip a cigarette into some grass, something on the stove would catch fire, or someone would plug to many things into one outlet, some kid would play with matches, or a number of other things, and a fire started. And when a fire starts, down at the firehouse, we get the call, and after pulling on our black fire-pants with attached boots and suspenders, as well as our jackets and helmets, we get onto either Gusher, or the hook and ladder truck, nicknamed "Tallboy", and we race off to the emergency.

We then take care of the emergency, before returning to the firehouse. It was always exciting when we would get a call for a fire, but usually it was to get someone's cat out of a tree, (yes, firemen actually do this in small towns!) get someone's dog out of a storm drain, or something along these lines. (One time we had to save a drunk guy who decided to try and climb into a restaurant's ventilation system while naked, but let's not talk about that!) Outside of work though, there was time for other pursuits.

I didn't have too many friends outside of the firehouse, but I was very good friends with, (I might even say best-friends with) Prince Dusk Shine. We met sometime after I moved to Ponyville, and we quickly discovered that we shared a LOT of the same interests. We both liked reading, history, learning new things, and even enjoyed fiction writing. I would sometimes come over to visit Dusk when I was off-duty, and we'd hang out for a while. I also quickly found one more reason to visit Dusk too.

This was when I first met Barbara, Dusk's assistant. I'd never really known any girls before this, but when I first saw Barbara, my jaw hit the ground! She was SMOKIN' hot! She stood maybe 5'7, had thick green hair that hung past her shoulders, and part of her bangs came over one of her emerald green eyes, and she was wearing jean shorts, a white T-shirt, and sandals. I also noticed her breasts. She had a VERY large rack of double-G's, and they jiggled a bit as she walked. Luckily, Dusk didn't see my jaw hit the ground due to being wrapped up in his book, but Barbara did. She came over to me.

"Oh hello there!"

"Oh......uh...hi." I was still trying to form words.

"I don't think that I've seen you around before, but I've heard Dusk talk about you. Are you new to Ponyville?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. I came here from America as a part of that exchange program."

She nodded. "Oh. Well it's always nice to meet new people. What's your name?"

"I'm Michael Edwards, but my friends call me Mick. I'm a fireman down at the Ponyville Firehouse No.1."

"Oh, well that must be a fun job. I'm Barbara, but my friends call me Barb. I'm Dusk's assistant."

"It is fun. Yes, it can be boring at times, but it does have its rewards. How's it working with Dusk?"

"Like your job, it can be boring at times, but it does have its rewards."

Dusk then looked over at us. "Oh, I see that you've met Barb Mick."

I nodded. "Yeah, she seems nice. She's your assistant?"

"Yeah. She's been my assistant ever since I arrived in Poynville, which was a good 5, almost 6 years ago now. She's been so good to me, haven't you Barb?"

She giggled a bit. "Yeah, I sure have Dusk!" She then turned to me. "I never knew my parents growing up, but Dusk raised me since I was young."

I was surprised. I'd never heard Dusk say that he'd taken care of Barb before, but then again, until that day, I never even knew that she existed.

From that day going forwards, Barb and I became fast friends too, and eventually, she came to call herself my girlfriend. Dusk wasn't very happy about this though.

"Barb, don't you think that you're taking this relationship thing too far?"

"What do you mean Dusk?"

"I mean, don't you think that it's a bit too early to be calling yourself Mick's girlfriend?"

Barb gave him a strange look. "Dusk, Mick's been in Equestria for almost a year now, and he's your best friend. You say that like I'm trying to go out with a total stranger!"

"He MIGHT be my best friend, but you're NOT going out with him!"

Barb gave him a glare. "Says who? You're not the boss of me! Well, you are, but yet you're also NOT!"

"I know what's best for you Barb. You're too young to date Mick."

"Um, I'm 20 years old 'Dad'. I think that it's time to let your 'Little Girl' go, as she's all grown up now!" Barb sarcastically rebutted.

Dusk opened his mouth, but was quickly forced to close it again. He had no answer to what Barb had just said. He knew that she was right, but he didn't want Barb to date. He resolved to keep her away from me, but how long would that last? Not very long, I can tell you that! Soon Barb and I would be meeting up again, and it would be a night that NEITHER of us would be forgetting anytime soon!

Author's Note

Ok guys, here we go! I've introduced the characters, as well as the settings, so NOW we can move on to the good stuff in the next chapter! This story will have 2 chapters, as well as an Epilogue. It'll be longer than a one-shot, but it'll still be short and sweet. I really hope that you enjoy this little saga with Mick, Barb, and Dusk, as well as the MAJOR shennanigans that they're about to get into!

In the meantime though, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 1!

ScarFox out for now!