Time is of the Matter

by munomana

Rating: teen
Tags: Discord, Princess Celestia, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 17025

What happens when a guy gets to control time? Trickery.

You can't control time, but when you're is given a deal that is just too good to be true, you discover that not everything goes without a catch...

Read as a teen is transported to Equestria in exchange for the ability to manipulate time, and his struggle to cope with the differences in his world to this one... but not without having some fun first.

Will add tags as I move along.

(First story, feel free to eat me.)

Published 2012-09-20 02:44:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-04 06:42:05 UTC

Prologue: Trickery

Prologue: Trickery

Time is of the matter

Prologue: Trickery

Time is money, but in this case, I've got as much as I want.

It was a beautiful day today. The sun shining. The birds chirping. The flowers blooming. But for me, that was all wasted in a person's least favorite time of day, School.

I always spent these splendid days sitting through classes, working on assignments, and hanging with friends. I had many friends, but they weren't like me. I was a guy who got A's and B's, looked good, and was pretty strong. These weren't what I was known for though. I was a funny guy. I could always find a way to crack a joke in any kind of situation, whether it be an inside joke, making fun of the ignorant, or just a plain old joke.

Well it was a Tuesday morning around lunch time as I chatted with my friends over some cheese sandwiches and cookies, talking about some of life's most intriguing subjects.

"-and that's why avocados are the best things in the world." my friend finished as he swallowed the remainder of his sandwich.

"That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." exclaimed another friend as they shared a heated argument.

"Hey! That's my opinion!" he said as he tried to defend himself.

"You guys are both stupid, now let's clean up, class is in 10 minutes," I exclaimed as I finally finished my lunch and stood up to throw my trash away.

"Well I'm still sticking to my-" my friend stopped. He stood in place, holding his tray as if he had seen a ghost.

"Well what, dude?" I asked, Curious as to why he stopped talking. I examined him to closer to discover that he wasn't moving AT ALL.

"Hey! Dude! You okay?"

It was then that I realized that he wasn't the only one who stopped.

I looked around.

Everyone around my had frozen in place as if they were stone. wondering what was going on, I stood up. Color quickly faded as the vibrant brown of the table slowly turned to a grey, along with every other item as well. Before long, the color was drained from existence as only black, white, and grey lingered, splattered all over the area as if they were in an old movie.

'This is really creepy... what's going on?'

The room was silent, nothing moved. The food was untouched. The people, stone. Everything but... me.

I looked at myself. I was still clothed in the same shade of colors I adorned moments ago, while everything around me differentiated in almost every aspect. I was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, White sneakers, and a white shirt. I wasn't a sharp dresser, but I'd choose this over anything else, any day.

'Wait, why can I move?' I thought as I took a few steps around my seat, noticing no difference in how it was before. I decided that I needed to figure out what was going on or if I was the source of what was going on.

After a minute of embarrassing straining, I came to the solution that it probably wasn't me.

'Time to find out why the HELL this is going on.'

I quickly walked way from the table, looking around at the world that stood frozen upon me. I looked around. 'The cafeteria's still the same, all the food's there, the people, the lighting, the-'

I then saw what lay in the center of the cafeteria. A small, circular light emitted from the ground, creating a lightened pillar indicating my answer was bound to be there.

As I reached the center of the area, I walked in the middle of the column. I faced down the aisle as a bright light began to shine in that specific direction, blinding me. It was as if the sun was attempting to eat my eyes.

The light soon faded away as I opened my eyes to figure out what had just happened. As I adjusted my vision, I realized what was directly in front of me.

About a meter away, a white door sat. around the edges. Light extricated in the form of sunlight as if some godly figure sat inside.

Curious, I peeked behind wondering where it could possibly lead to. To my astonishment, nothing lied behind but the many students frozen in time.

'Where am I? Am I dead?' I questioned in my thoughts. 'Only one way to find out.'

Doing what I thought I should do, I reached for the handle. It was flawless gold that was warm to the touch. I then turned the handle and opened the strange door.

Inside was a completely white room. A beautiful glass chandelier hung from the roof, emitting a light that filled the room, extracting any darkness that could possibly be held here. In the center of the room, a crafted wooden desk sat. On the center of the desk, a stopwatch lay still, making me wonder if this was the key to my experience.

Behind the the desk sat a man in a simple office chair. He looked no more than his mid-40's but had grey hair. A brown jacket was draped on his chest and shoulders. He wore a white dress shirt and black pants similar to the ones a business man would wear.

Before I could speak up to ask him any questions, he cut me off.

"Hello, my name is Discord," He spoke with a voice that could challenge a voice actor. "I've been waiting for you."

"Who are you? Why is everything still? Am I dead? Why is this happening to me!?" I asked, barraging the man with questions.

"You're not dead," He explained in a calm voice.

"Then why is everything still?"

"I have a proposition."

"What are you talking about!?" I screamed.

"Would you like the ability to manipulate time?"

That question stopped me in my tracks. 'WHAT!? Controlling time!? that would be so cool!!!'.

"Why me?" I replied in confusion.

"There is something special about you," He answered, putting on a smirk. "Now, do you accept my offer?"

"Yes! No, wait wait wait." I replied in joy before quickly trying to rationalize. There has to be a catch of some sort. Nobody just passes out the ability to manipulate time just because you're 'special'.

"As you wish," He said with his dark voice before starting to laugh in a way that matched his voice. Evil.

"NO! WAIT-" I exclaimed before the world became dark around my eyes, drifting off into unconsciousness.

Awakening

Time is of the matter

Awakening

Light crept though the forest opening as the sun lifted me from my slumber. I awoke slowly, trying to adjust to the brightness that pierced my eyelids. My mind came to as my senses started to function. As my eyes opened, they were welcome to an unusual sight. Instead of the presumed bedroom ceiling, a bright ball of gas gazed upon me, signifying that I wasn't in or near my own room. I felt the ground above me, a soft grass.

I started to panic, not knowing where I could possibly be. 'Maybe I just passed out outside of school? I blame the sandwich'. I looked around, trying to confirm my suspicion. I was wrong. Instead of the welcoming sight of a high school, I was greeted with many trees, all conjoining to make a forest that spread for who knows how long.

'WHERE THE HELL AM I?'

I quickly sat up, but not before being greeted with the popping of nitrogen bubbles in my back. Looking around, I realized that the forest was deep, but contained a small, dirt path leading in one direction. I started to wonder how I could have possibly ended up in this desolate area. Suddenly, memories flooded my mind as if a dam had shattered in my mind.

'Lunch time. Time stop. White door. Bright room. Man named Discord. Proposition. Pass out.' I thought as I retraced my steps. 'That conniving bastard...'

I was about to start moping until I realized something. 'Wait! I have my phone and my other crap!'

I slowly stood up, shaking off the hanging dirt that clung to my clothes. I then inserted my hands into my pockets, withdrawing whatever I could find in there.

Inside held: My cellphone, a wallet with $88 and an ID inside, A pack of Starburst, a pencil, and a pocket knife.

'Well at least I have a pack of Starburst to last-' I was interrupted by a squishy sound produced as I bit into the last of my Starburst candy. "Well not anymore..."

I quickly took out my last lifeline, my cellphone. I quickly slid out the keyboard, unlocking the phone. As I looked on in hope, that hope took a dive-bomb so large, you could hear the splash it made when falling into my stomach.

I had absolutely no bars where I stood, making me panic. 'OH CRAP... I'm screwed...'

I thought back to that man. He must have been the one who deposited me here. I then checked around the floor for anything that could have helped me. He had to have left me something here.

On the floor laid a single sticky note. It was written in a rugged manuscript with what seemed to be a black pen.

The note read: Have fun in Equestria! -Discord

I looked over the note again before realizing that everything had come true. 'You freaking-... wait... EQUESTRIA?'

'What the hell is Equestria? Is it a country? Planet? Okay, probably not a planet, but I've never heard of this place before.'

"Well... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" I stopped as I was interrupted by a growl.

I quickly looked to my right, but was just met with the rustling of bushes. 'Of course, I'm in a damned forest.'

Throwing that thought aside, I looked back down the path, but what I was met with completely blew my thoughts of reality.

Standing in front of me, was a GIANT monster that looked like a lion sprawled out on all fours, ready to attack. 'Why is a lion in a forest? and why's it so BIG?' Upon further inspection, I saw what else the monster lion had adorned. On it's back lay 2 wings, similar to a bat's. Instead of the normal tail a lion would have, a giant scorpion tail stood.

After a moment of pondering, I quickly classified it as a manticore. 'Well wh- WAIT, WHAT!? Manticores are legend!' My mind screamed at me. It didn't make any sense. I had now considered I was either dead, asleep, in a coma, crazy, or possibly on another planet although the last seemed least likely.

Before I could regain my thoughts, The manticore growled once again, attempting to intimidate me. Without warning, the manticore pounced, making me go on instinct. I shielded myself, bracing for the mauling that was sure to happen... although... it never came.

After a few moments, nothing happened. I wasn't even touched.

Unsure of the situation occurring, I slowly removed my guard. As I opened my eyes, I began to realize what happened.

In mid-air, stood a manticore frozen in time. It hung five feet away, a snarl painted on the beast as it's attack was cut short.

I then remembered back to Discord's deal.

"No. Freaking. Way." I was surprised, unsure of what to do or if this was even remotely real. I needed confirmation. I slowly started to walk towards the mythical creature.

As I reached the side of the beast, I reached my hand up to it's side. As my hand made contact with it's fur, I froze. I could feel the individual hairs of the fur. 'Could this all be real?' My mind raced, unable to accept everything that happened.

After a minute of self-conflict, I came to a solution. I knew what I had to do.

'I need to find out how to control this power and defeat this beast.'

I wasn't sure on how to hurt the manticore itself, so I searched around for any rocks that I could throw. After a minute of searching, I started to get a minor headache along with a fruitless search.

'Aha! my pocket knife!'

I took out my knife as I readied myself to attack. Before I could move, the monster started to slowly come back to life, speeding up for every given second. As it came back to life, my headache started to disappear as well. 'Welp, I'm screwed. Might as well lose like a man... unless...'

I unfurled my knife as the manticore attacked a patch of air where I once stood. Confused, it quickly turned around for a few moments before meeting eyes with me, ready to attack again. As the manticore readied it's stance again, I took a defensive stance.

'Now or never.'

The manticore attacked.

As manticore inched towards me, I began to concentrate. With all of my might, I attempted to slow time itself. I began to imagine the manticore as if it soared in the air as a snail moved along the land.

I opened my eyes. Before me, a manticore flew no faster than a snail.

'Yes!'

I took advantage of this moment and focused on my knife. I charged at the manticore at full speed, ready to puncture it's throat with my knife. I slid underneath it's giant paws before spying my target. My heart pounded as my arm pierced the air, directly towards the beast's throat. Within moments, the blade sliced through. As a headache began to appear, I swiftly rolled out from under and dashed to the side.

Within moments, The manticore returned to it's original speed. Instead of landing on all fours, the beast slammed face first into the grass, clutching it's neck trying to stop the bleeding while also to trying to inhale air while failing at both. It slowly started to falter as it's last breath escaped it, putting the beast to eternal rest.

I walked over to the beast to confirm my victory. As I reached it, I crouched down next to it's head, placing my ear near it's mouth. No breath escaped it. I slowly stood up before taking it all in.

'I just killed a mythical creature... the government would be all over my ass right now.'

I then realized the ability I had gained and how I could now harness it's power.

'Unbelievable... I'm gonna have so much fun.'

After I picked up all of my belongings, I turned towards the forest passage and began to walk.

"It's time to find my way out of here."

I stared around, lost in thought as I traveled along the lush path guiding my way. The sun still shone bright in the sky, directly above my head. I was no forest man, but I could easily tell it was around noon wherever I was, if I even was anywhere.

'This forest is unbelievably green! Wherever Discord put me, he sure had good taste... if this is even real.'

I thought back to everything that had happened so far. The lunch, the door, the Discord, the manticore, and the best of all, the time powers.

'I bet I'm in some sort of coma in the nurses office. Manticores are just fiction... right?' I pondered in thought, trying to set myself straight. 'I KNOW I'm in a dream... a very real dream. A lucid dream? Probably... although I swear they had some rules about them and this is extremely unusual.'

I tried to bring back everything I know about lucid dreams, no matter how little it may actually be.

'Let's see... If I remember correctly, you can't see yourself in a mirror, can't read words, and I think dying in here could possibly cause me to fall into shock. That means I gotta be extra careful, I'm not taking any chances... unless...'

I thought back to the things I knew and found out a few ways to test this dream. Taking out my phone, I whipped out the keyboard and unlocked the phone. What I saw at the least, surprised me now more than everything before.

The date read: September 20, 2012.

'Either that thing I knew was fake, or I'm crazy.'

I thought back to the task on hand and looked back to where I was walking, taking in the details.

'Okay, let's see. Tree. Bush. Rock. Hoof print. Vin- Wait, hoof print?'

I got down to one knee, examining the track on the ground. It was indeed a hoof print, which meant that someone had to have ridden a horse down this path. In other words, I was going the right way!

Looking again, the tracks continues down the path that I was taking. I then trekked onward into the forest.

Until I heard a growl behind me.

'Not more animals... although I'm not sure if a manticore counts as an animal.'

Turning around, I was astonished at what I saw before me. Two wolves made out of wood stood before me.

'Wood? Really brain? My knife won't do shit against these guys.'

I looked back at the beasts, eyeing them warily.

'Maybe...'

I got in a loose stance before starting to use my ultimate strategy.

I started throwing as many stupid insults at them to see what happens, hopefully getting them angry in one way or another. This, did as I hoped it would. One of the wolves stepped forward, growling as it closed in the distance.

'Hopefully this works.'

Without warning, the wolf pounced, showing off it's teeth as it flew through the air, attempting to incapacitate me.

'Don't fail me now.'

I closed my eyes, concentrating on stopping the wolves like I had the manticore. I re-opened my eyes to the delightful sight of a wooden wolf suspended in the air. It had it's mouth open, teeth exposed to the world. Instead of saliva, it's gaping mouth was filled with tree sap. 'Of course.'

I looked around, hopeful of finding what I was searching for. To my right, was a tall tree with many branches sticking out of the sides. I took this golden opportunity to make my escape.

I quickly scattered to the tree. I placed my hands on the lowest branch I could find before pulling myself up onto it.

I climbed branch by branch until I was out of sight of the wolves chasing after me.

'Hmm... maybe I could find a way to hu-' I was interrupted by a small headache entering my mind, telling me to stop.

I focused on the matter at hand and began to think. After a few moments, the headache began to recede, along with the silence held with it.

Below, I could hear the whimper of the wolf as it crashed into an invisible target in confusion. I looked down, waiting for the dogs to realize that I was gone and leave.

The beasts barked around for a few moments before turning towards the forest.

After five minutes of waiting, I climbed down off the tree. I quickly looked around making sure that nobody was watching or following me. I began to continue my way down the path once again.

Earlier

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The peaceful town had been partaking in it's daily activities as ponies of different colors trotted up and down the street. Twilight on the other hand, was cooped up inside her library.

"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!" Exclaimed Twilight.

"What Twilight? I'm right here."

"I told you I wanted these books re-arranged in alphabetical order!" She explained.

"But I did!"

"N goes after M, not before!"

"Fine, I'll fix that now" The baby dragon grunted as he walked over to grab the step ladder.

"Thanks Spike. I'm just trying to hurry, I'm late to Pinkie's part-" Before Twilight could finish, A bright light shined through the window she stood a few feet away from, momentarily blinding her.

After a few moments, the light died down as she ran to the glass, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"What was that!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not sure, but it came from the direction of the Everfree," The purple dragon explained, rubbing his eyes while adjusting his eyes.

"Spike, I'm gonna need you to watch over the library while I go get the girls"

"You got it ma'am." Said Spike, forming a mock salute.

Twilight then burst through the door at record speed towards Sugarcube Corner.

"Something tells me Twilight is over-reacting" muttered Spike as she left the room.

'What could have possibly made that light in the forest? It's nothing like I've seen before.' Thought Twilight as she raced past the other ponies, ignoring their stares and shouts.

'I have no clue. The only animals I know that live in that dreaded forest have no way of creating such a light.' Twilight stopped for a moment to contemplate. 'The only reasonable answer is... Zecora!'

Twilight re-booted her gallop as she neared the sweets shop that held most of Pinkie's legendary parties.'Zecora could be in danger. I need to help.'

As She reached the shop, she burst the door open, revealing 5 surprised figures.

"Hey! Twilight! Glad you could make it! Did you see that light? It was like "WHOOSH" and we were like "AAAAAAAHHHH" and then we had to pry Fluttershy off of the wall right after and-" The talkative pink pony was interrupted as a purple hoof was shoved into her mouth.

"Twilight, where d'ya reckon that bright light came from?" asked Applejack from across the room.

"I'm not sure, but we need to go find out. For all I know, Zecora could be in trouble!" explained Twilight. "We need to go to the Everfree forest!"

"Umm... Twilight?" squeaked Fluttershy. "The forest is really dangerous and...-"

"Fluttershy, we don't have time for this! Something in that forest is dangerous and we're the only ones who could deal with it right now."

"I agree, let's go!" Yelled Rainbow Dash.

And with that, all six of the ponies filed out of Sugarcube Corner and made haste towards the forest.

I thought to myself as I walked along the trees, taking in the beauty of the world around me. I hadn't ever seen vegetation grow like this where I came from. The dirt beneath my feet felt soft, the air sweet, and sun bright. 'I wish home was this beautiful. 'Tis a shame this is but a dream.'

I thought back to all of the danger I had encountered since I had arrived. I never got a good chance to look back at all of the good things that enveloped this place. I loved every part of it. 'I wish this could all be real... The wildlife, the plants, the atmosphere, and not to mention this awesome ability.'

I stopped for a second, looking up at the sky. I wanted to check if my phone was in sync with the sun regardless of being a dream, no matter how unbelievable. I reached into my pockets and pulled out my reliable, rectangular friend. I unlocked it and looked. The time read 12:46 PM. I looked back up to the sky, where the sun was almost directly above me. 'Wow. I can't believe my imagination was this strong... if this even is a dream.

I quickly shuddered the thought away. looking back down, I saw something in the distance. Curious, I got back to moving, but quickened my pace.

As I reached the opening, I wasn't shocked with what I came before. Before me was a flowing river. The river was flowing rapidly, making it hard to cross the river.

I looked around me for a stick to throw in the river to test the current. I looked beside me to find a stick about a foot long. I quickly threw it in the river to discover that the current was going faster than first presumed. As soon as the stick hit the water, it flowed away at record speed. 'Well that's a stick in the mud... I'm so funny.'

After mentally slapping myself for the joke, I walked along the bank trying to find any rocks to skip across. What I found wasn't a rock, but it didn't surprise me at the least. As I reached about 50 feet away from the dirt path, another monster popped out of the water.

Of course I was expecting a sea serpent with purple scales, orange hair, and half of a ridiculously fancy moustache. What surprised me the most was the fact that he seemed to be moping about his mustache... in perfect English. 'So this big guy can talk? Wow. I never expected other sentient creatures in here regardless of being a dream.

'Maybe I could squeeze a few answers out of him.' I thought to myself.

"HEY! YOU! UP THERE!"

The serpent quickly turned around to face me. "Who, me?" He took a good look at me before nearly jumping out of his scales. "What ARE you? I've never seen you in the Everfree forest before. Not to mention you can TALK."

"I should be the one saying that... Except I know nothing about this forest," I replied. "but that's not important right now, I need to know, is there anything outside of this forest?"

"There is a town if you continue this way." He pointed in the opposite direction of my previous path. 'Good'

"Is there any way to cross this river?" I asked hopefully.

Suddenly, he started to look sad, then back to moping.

"Oh why must this happen to me!" he exclaimed. "You just reminded me of my beautiful mustache. I lost the other half somewhere on this riverbank. I got it from this mare with a FABULOUS purple tail when she realized I had lost my mustache."

Realizing what he was implying, I groaned in response. "If I find your mustache, will you let me cross?"

"Oh yes! Thank you stranger!" He slithered off back into the water, leaving me to search.

I walked back to the path I was once at. I thought that if I went the other way, I'd probably find it.

After walking down the bank about a minute, I spotted a purple tail caught up in a tree. 'How?' Using my amazing climbing skills, I climbed up and grabbed it on my 5th try.

I quickly ran back to the dirt path and waited... and waited... and waited.

After about a minute, the serpent popped back up. "Did you find my beautiful mustache?"

"Right here." I threw it up to him as his face lightened like a child's on Christmas day.

"Oh Thank you so much!" He started to dance around before placing it on his face... somehow. "Like I promised, I'll slow down the river."

"Okay, Thank you." I replied gratefully.

As the river slowed down, I stopped trying to make sense of this place. I quickly ran across.

As I reached the other side, a thought came to mind. 'Why didn't I just slow the river using my time controlling powers?' I then proceeded to literally slap myself.

After the slap session, I continued down the path, away from the accursed river and it's stupid sea serpent.

The walk down the path was relatively peaceful, allowing me to calm down after all that's happened. I was getting rather... tired for a dream.

Minutes later, I approached the side of a small cliff-like obstacle. In the side, there were a few rocks adorning the side making it possible to climb up. 'This is gonna suck.'

As I climbed up, I realized that this wasn't very easy even though I seemed to be in a lucid dream.

a few embarrassing and might I add painful mistakes later, I reached the top of the incline, sitting back against a rock. I was panting and physically tired. 'I'm growing rather... sleepy. I hope this means this nightmare of a dream is over.'

I looked to the right and found a tree providing decent shade before crawling over to it. The tree was rather rugged, but provided a good spot to rest. I turned on the favorite song I had on my phone before placing it on the ground next to me, lying down, and drifting off to the amazing music of Queen.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all arrived at the edge of the Everfree forest minutes later after having to cut their party short due to a short, but unexpected surprise that emitted from the forest.

"Okay girls, we're here. Be careful and vigilant. We have no clue what we're dealing with." Announced Twilight as they started their way into the Everfree, but quickly stopped as they realized that one of them were absent.

Looking around, Twilight realized that Fluttershy was missing. "Fluttershy! We need to go find out what that was!"

A meek voice emitted from a nearby bush as Fluttershy gingerly walked out back into the open. "But what if it's a big scary dragon? Or maybe even a different monster?"

Twilight face-hoofed.

"Fluttershy, I know what lives in the Everfree, and it couldn't have been an animal. It was probably a mishap at Zecora's hut, but we still need to figure this out. Anyway-."

"C'mon Fluttershy! I really wanna go see what happened! It's okay, if anypony tries to hurt you, they'll have to get through me!" butted in Rainbow Dash.

All of the mares nodded in agreement before Fluttershy spoke up again.

"Okay, but can we hurry? I want to make sure that Zecora's not hurt."

The six mares Then turned and walked into the forest.

As they reached Zecora's hut, they raced inside, forgetting to knock.

"Zecora! Are you okay!" Screamed Twilight.

Zecora on the other hand, literally jumped 10 feet in the air by surprise, spilling over the cauldron that had been used at the moment to heat soup.

"Sorry Zecora, but we saw that bright flash come from the Everfree forest and we thought something happened to you." Explained Twilight.

"There is nothing to fear. No trouble has been caused here." Said Zecora in her Zebrican accent and rhymes.

"But what could have possibly made that light?"

"This bright light sure did cause quite a hassle, but I'm sure the flash came from near the old castle." Replied the zebra.

"Oh thank you Zecora, we would be lost without you." With that, Twilight and the rest of them hurried out of the hut save for Fluttershy who closed the door on the way out.

The mares continued down the path at break-neck speed, curious as to what could be lying ahead. They passed by trees bushed, and rocks. They completely ignored all of the monsters that loomed in the tree line.

Then, they stopped. The lyrics of Another One Bites the Dust emanated from ahead of them, distracting them from their current mission.

"Girls, can you hear that music playing?" Asked Twilight.

"I do... I think it's coming from up ahead." replied Rainbow.

They listened closely for a few moments before Rarity chipped in.

"Can we continue? This place is doing horrors to my mane. We should just follow the music."

"What if it's a trap?" asked Applejack.

"There's only way to find out." said Twilight as she continued to walk forward, the other mares following suit shortly after.

They continued closer, too entranced by the music to focus on anything else, the music intensifying with each step. Soon, they could clearly hear the music as they reached an opening to the path.

What they saw froze them all.

First Encounters

First Encounters

Time is of the matter

First Encounters

As Twilight and the girls stepped into the opening, the music filled the ears of everyone around as it cascaded the surrounding area at full potential. The most unusual part was the vocals. The vocals were in the same language that they all shared. The most confusing part was the fact that the type of music was very alien to the ponies.

'Why in the world would ANYPONY make music out-' Thought Twilight before her eyes fell the location of the music.

Where the music came from, a strange creature lay against a tree, sleeping. It was similar to an ape although very different. It had thin fur on it's lower limbs, but was rather bald when it came to it's upper 'forelegs?'. It had a short, brown mane on it's had that curved up towards the front of thee head. The weirdest part was the fact that it wore CLOTHES. It wore a 2 piece set on it's body consisting of a white cloth on it's upper body and a split brown one that split below it's waste. It had smooth claws on it's forelegs and some sort of footwear on the ends of it's lower legs. It appeared to be bipedal do to it's posture.

The creature lay next to what emitted the music. A small black box of some sort lay, somehow creating the sound.

Twilight turned to her friends before starting to whisper.

"Girls, we need to be quiet. I don't want to wake-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"-AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I was awoken by the sound of a female screaming. no. SCREECHING.

'Finally, I'm awake.' I thought before slowly opening my eyes, welcoming the sun. It felt like I was leaning against a rugged tree. Below me was some unbelievably soft grass.

'I probably passed out. They could have at least brought me to the-' Was all I thought before my eyes adjusted to the sunshine, revealing where I was. What I saw, completely blew my mind.

Before me stood six pastel colored ponies, or that's what my mind registered them as first. They were all uniquely colored. The one in the front was purple and the ones behind were colored: yellow, orange, cyan, pink, and white. They were about 3 1/2 ft tall.

The purple pony had a look of shock, attempting to cover her ears with her fore-hooves before collapsing due to lack of balance. The WHITE one had a look of terror with 'her?' mouth open.

'Oh I am freaking insane.'

Registering that I was clearly out of my mind, I stood up, and started to walk up to the purple one in front. It didn't move, frozen in place. I slowly got down to my knee before talking.

"Okay, imaginary pony. I know you're fake so I'm just gonna poke you in the nose so you go away."

This, made it's jaw LITERALLY hit the floor.

I pulled my arm up before poking her little snout, emitting a little "HONK" as it it was a clowns nose. I stopped.

'I shouldn't have felt anything.' I slowly did it again to confirm my insanity.

'I'm gonna go bang my head against that tree.' I mused ti myself as I turned around and began to walk to my original napping spot.

"Come back here!" yelled one in a tomboyish voice. Before I could turn around to look, a bright flash of rainbow smashed into my as we went rolling around the ground before abruptly stopping at the foot of a tree. I quickly turned and forced her on top of me before using my legs to propel the pony away.

The pony quickly readied for another attack. But before she could pounce, she was enveloped in a purple aura. On top of the purple pony's head emitted a purple light akin to the one surrounding the cyan pony. 'Unicorns and magic? What is this, a girls cartoon?'

I was about to question before a thought struck my head. 'Wait, why did I feel that and why did they talk?'

I did the first thing that came to mind. "Where am I?" I asked in a confused voice.

Before the purple pony could speak up, the pink pony jumped out from behind and ran directly in front of me, nearly inches away, staring with her freakishly HUGE eyes.

"Hi my name is Pinkie Pie and I like parties do you like parties? Do you have parties? We should TOTALLY have a party for you mister clothing monkey! Do you like cupcakes? I LOVE cupcakes! What's your name?" She blurted out with unbelievable speed impossible for any living being to do, regardless of the alien factor. I didn't understand a word it said 'I'm still not sure if I'm insane. This is too real to be a dream.'

As an idea popped into my head I began to talk. "Can you repeat that?"

She nodded like a madman before taking a huge gasp of air. I took that as my cue and began to slow down the world around me to about half speed.

This time, All of the words were easily describable although much deeper.

I then decided to answer her to the best of my ability from memory.

"Nice to meet you Pinkie Pie, my name's Roberto. I like parties a lot and have some parties where I'm from. I really appreciate the offer, but I'm still a little hazy in the head as for if this is real or not. I'm a human, not a clothed monkey. I also like cupcakes."

I put on the cheekiest smile I could bear as the mouths of the rest of the ponies proceeded to drop in shock.

Then, just like for the cyan pony who was still a little reluctant to trust, the aura lifted Pinkie Pie back. Then, the purple pony stepped forward, eager to ask questions.

"U-um hello... Roberto," Said the pony ask reluctantly as ever thought possible. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Thinking this was fake, I answered as enthusiastically as possible trying to answer invisible questions that they were likely to ask.

"Nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle, and before you ask, I am not going to eat you guys," With that, everyone of the ponies seemed to ease up a little... save for the yellow pony who was still shaking in the back. poor girl must be frightened. "but I need to know. Where am I?"

With that, the orange pony in the back pushed her way through the others before answering. "How can Y'all not know where ya are! You're in th' Everfree Forest, th' most dangerous place in Equestia!"

"Equestria? That Discord guy was right." I whispered to myself, not wanting to explain myself any longer.

Twilight slowly walked back up. "These are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and of course, Pinkie Pie which you somehow found out yourself in Pinkie's rambling.

Before I could speak up, my stomach growled, indicating that I was apparently hungry after ALL OF THIS ADVENTURING.

"Umm... is there a town nearby? I have a lot to think about and I'm starving."

"Ponyville is right outside of the forest. That's where we all live." Answered Twilight.

"Alright, let's go... but first."

I slowly ducked myself to eye level with the ponies before walking slowly towards the back towards the yellow pony who proceeded to hide behind her mane in fear. "It's okay... I promise I won't hurt you." I said as I slowly stroked her mane, allowing her to ease up a little. 'She's just too adorable to let her be like that, real or not.'

I slowly stood up before walking towards the tree, picking up my phone, stopping the music, and walking towards the direction where the ponies came from. "I know you have many questions. but I'll answer them in the Ponyville."

"Wait, I have a question," asked Twilight. "Did you happen to see a bright light come from that direction about an hour ago?"

She then proceeded to point in the direction where I came from.

"I woke up in this land about an hour ago in that direction. I'll give you more details IN PONYVILLE." I groaned. "Sorry, but I'm starving and tired. I'll gladly answer anything you need to know when we get there."

With that, We set off towards Ponyville.

The sun still shone upon the six ponies and human as they traveled through the treacherous forest that separated them from Ponyville, their destination. The path they traveled was adorned by bright and beautiful plant-life that seemed too extravagant to even exist... as if it was from a coloring book.

Twilight and the five other ponies stood a good ten feet in front of the strange creature, guiding the way through. All was tense, Twilight was completely unsure of the origin of the human. She had no clue whether to trust him or not, but what was on her mind was something else. Twilight needed to know all about him. His presence in Equestria was unheard of, puzzling her as she mulled on about the subject before a certain tomboyish pegasus spoke up in a hushed whisper.

"I don't trust this punk one bit. He'd probably just want us to show us where we live so he could eat us!"

"Rainbow, let's not get too hasty. He may just be lost. What makes you think that we could just jump to conclusions!" replied Twilight, mirroring the tone of Rainbow Dash.

"I'm just saying that I don't trust him. He was in the Everfree forest and you know he's probably what made that huge, yet epic, light," Rainbow huffed.

"He may not be here on bad intentions. I need to know more about him." replied Twilight.

"Well if he tries anything funny, I'll-" spoke Rainbow Dash before being interrupted by the orange farm pony.

"Ah reckon he's here by accident. Ah could see it in his eyes, he's not a bad critter."

"Well I'll take anything I can get from him since he speaks equestrian... Say, why does he know equestrian?" Said Twilight, attempting to steer the chat away.

Before any of the ponies could open their mouths, a familiar voice emanated from behind.

"You know I can hear you back here," replied Roberto as he quickened his pace, catching up to the ponies ahead of him. "Look, I know that you don't have any reason to trust me, but getting to know a few things about me might help. Ask away."

With that Pinkie Pie darted forward towards the human, preparing to bombard him with a shit-storm of questions completely irrelevant to the subject, but not before the purple hue pulled her back as Twilight sped up her trot towards the front of the small group.

"AHEM. I have a few questions to ask you right now." Exclaimed Twilight as she prepared to interrogate him.

'Now I'm doing some Q&A with purple unicorn. I'm not sure what's anything anymore... might as well go along with it, set my mind straight.'

"What are you exactly?" asked Twilight as she trotted along side Roberto.

"Well my species name is human, but in terms of Binomial Nomenclature, we are called Homo sapiens." replied Roberto.

"Homo what? And what is Binomial Nomenclature?"

"I'm not a science teacher so I'll save that for another time because I really don't want to explain it now. As for Homo sapiens, it's Latin for "wise man" if I remember correctly," Roberto replied in a knowledgeable tone.

"Okay... well one thing confuses me. Why do you know Equestrian?" asked Twilight.

"What's Equestrian?"

"It's the language you're speaking!" exclaimed the purple mare.

"This is English my dear Twilight," Roberto answered.

"You know what, I'll find out later. Now, what brings you to the Everfree forest?"

"This is what this forest's called, huh. Well I have no idea. I just saw a flash and I appeared here," replied the human.

"That sure is puzzling... I'll have to study that when we arrive," said Twilight as she mulled over some facts. "Wait, are you saying you've never heard of the Everfree forest?"

"Nope, never, nor have I heard of 'Equestria.'"

"UGH! This is TOO confusing right now! How could you not heard of Equestria?" exclaimed Twilight.

"Does that mean you're an ALIEN!?" exclaimed Pinkie as she hopped up ahead of us, obviously intrigued by the circumstances.

"Pinkie, that can't be true. He said he saw a flash and awoke here. Y'know that Equestia's only a country. He could be from anywhere in Equus!" explained Twilight as she attempted to calm the bouncing mare.

With that I pulled myself back into the conversation.

"Actually, I've never heard of Equus. I'm from Earth. USA to be more exact," I explained as I continued to question my sanity.

Twilight then stopped in her tracks and turned towards me, revealing the twinkle in her eye.

"Does that really mean you're an alien? Do you have advanced technology? Do you have magic? Do you-" She was quickly interrupted when a cyan hoof stuffed her mouth.

"Twilight, I think he's had enough trying to deal with Pinkie going hay-wire on him, don't ya think?" replied Rainbow Dash.

Twilight then proceeded to adorn a light blush across her face, embarrassed.

"Sorry, this is just all new to me! I've never gotten to study an alien let alone one that speaks Equestrian!"

"English."

"Sorry, 'English'" apologized Twilight.

"OK, well Twilight's had enough questions for now. Anyone wanna take a try?" Roberto asked

With that, Rainbow Dash flew ahead of me and hovered ahead, flying backwards, glaring into my eyes a foot away. "How do I know that I can even trust you? What if you just want us to take you to our town so you can EAT us?" interrogated Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I'd probably have already eaten you if I actually ate ponies. Besides, I'd much rather eat a cupcake. Ponies probably taste terrible," assured the human.

Rainbow Dash seemed to accept the human a little bit more with that, but that wasn't all that was on her mind.

"Well are you awesome?" asked Rainbow Dash as the mares mentally face-hoofed.

"I think I'm preeeeeeeeetty awesome myself," He replied, putting on smirk as he looked directly into the mare's eyes.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" exclaimed Rainbow, waiting to be amused by his attempt then to do something radical to look cooler than him.

"Not here. Once we get into town, I'll hang with you for a bit," replied Roberto.

Before Rainbow Dash could pout any further, Pinkie Pie jumped ahead, readying to kill me with questions.

Pinkie then proceeded to inhale tons of air, implying that she had a lot to ask... in a short amount of time, but before she could, an aura surrounded her and pulled her back, revealing a white mare with an identical aura surrounding her horn.

"Pinkie darling, I think you've already asked him enough questions for now. I shall ask him a few questions myself, if you please," explained Rarity as she gathered her thoughts.

Rarity then proceeded to trot ahead Roberto and stop. Before he could say anything, Rarity turned around and examined his clothes, "These clothes will not do."

"Umm, what do you mean?" asked Roberto.

"These clothes are a monstrosity. No creature should try to look fabulous with those clothes, might as well not any clothes at all!" exclaimed Rarity as she shook her head disapprovingly.

"Rarity, humans wearing clothes is necessary where I'm from. Not wearing clothes is pretty much a taboo and in most places, can be arrested for being nude in public," I explained as I looked back towards my clothes, "besides, these clothes are rather comfy and popular among teens my age."

"Are all clothes like this where you're from?" asked Rarity, hoping to learn more about extraterrestrial fashion.

"No, these are just every day clothes that are comfy and look rather nice. Some people wear fabulous suits and dresses that cost a fortune! Sadly for me, I'm rather poor," He look down dejectedly. 'I always thought I'd look nice in a suit' he thought to himself. After that, Rarity walked back into the group of mares before we continued to walk down the path, passing by the same lush trees from before... it was getting rather tedious.

As we continued to walk, Twilight explained to me the origin of the Everfree forest and Equestria's rulers along with the story of Nightmare moon before a light glimmered in the distance.

"We're almost there," said Twilight.

"Thank goodness, I was getting-" I was cut off as we passed through the clearing, revealing me to the beautiful land of Equestria.

Ponyville

Time is of the matter

Ponyville

It was... beautiful.

The sun was still vibrantly shining in the sky, but not as magnificent as before. It's heavenly light cloaked the land in a warm blanket of softness. The land was lush with grass as green as vibrant as that of an artist's masterpiece, welcoming all who walked upon it. The fields expanded vastly into areas unknown, filled with culture and wildlife. In the distance stood a giant mountain casting a shadow that covered the plains like an eclipse. The mountain was a picture, perfect brown that held a magnificent castle that watched over the land and all of it's people.

Ahead of me was a path that slalomed down towards a quaint little village full of color that apparently housed the 6 other ponies that accompanied me. The path was a similar dirt path that consisted of small bushels of plant life along the way, occasionally intersecting with rivers where bridges stood over.

*SMACK*

"Ow~," I mumbled, rubbing the small slap mark that adorned my face. I looked up to find Rainbow Dash hovering directly ahead of me.

"Oh, sorry. You kinda stopped... for a few minutes. You were keeping us all behind," Explained Rainbow Dash as she spun around.

"Oh, my bad. I've just never seen somewhere so... colorful."

"Colorful? Equestria is always like this. Is it not as vibrant from this 'USA' you come from? " asked Twilight from behind.

"Not even CLOSE."

With that, Pinkie jumped ahead, obstructing my view of the unbelievable world.

"Is it all black and white where you're from? Like those films that we see sometimes? That's so weird!" Asked Pinkie in her usual high-pitched voice.

"No Pinkie, it's just not so vibrant. This kind of coloring would be found in some sort of coloring book," I explained as I turned to Twilight, "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Yes, I have SO much to ask you!" She yelled, revealing the glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

"Now now Twilight, I have much to ask you as well."

'If this were my mind, wouldn't I already know?'

"Okay, okay eggheads. Let's get going now, I wanna see all of Roberto's 'awesome' tricks," Huffed Rainbow Dash as she began to flap her wings harder and propelled towards the town as the rest of the girls followed suit, signalling that I, too should.

The town actually rather... large close up. As the village inched closer, so did my view of it. The village was bustling with ponies of shapes, sizes, and colors, all trotting towards their destinations throughout what I supposed was a market place from the outskirts of town, out of sight from all ponies.

"Roberto, come out of there. They won't do anything to you!" Yelled Rainbow Dash, urging me to go on.

"You sure? Back where I'm from, They wouldn't take lightly to a talking pony walking around the street," I explained, defending myself with reasons. "I'd also rather keep good here while I try to figure out what is all happening, because I'm not sure if I'm sane."

Twilight then proceeded to face-hoof as she enabled her magic and pulled me out from behind the bush I was crouching behind, "I can ASSURE you that nopony will be anything close to aggressive to you. If anything, they'll be running around in fear screaming 'THE HORROR'." Explained Twilight as she recalled back to the MANY times that Ponyville's residents over-reacted.

"Fine I'll go with you, but only if no'pony' doesn't try to EAT me. I can't allow that to happen," I assured as I was slowly lifted down from the telekinesis and began to walk to walk into the middle of town, following Twilight to her house.

It was hilarious.

The walk through Ponyville was LITERALLY silent. Every single pony followed suit as they stared towards me, wondering what I was and why I was here. I put on my best smug and proceeded to wave as if I was a celebrity walking in their town. It didn't work, but I felt pretty good.

After a few minutes of silenced walking, We arrived at... a tree. Apparently Twilight lived in a tree. She even explained that it was the Ponyville's public Library because trees, books, and thunderstorms fit together SO well!

Everyone stopped in front of the library before Twilight proceeded to open the door to her humble abode.

"I'm back Spike!" yelled Twilight as she hurried us all into the home and planted us in the center of the room.

"Hi Twilight, How's... it... going.... umm, Twilight, WHAT is THAT?" asked Spike in utter confusion as he stood at the foot of the stairs, staring directly at me.

"Hello, Spike," I said as I put on the cheekiest smile as I could muster.

Spike, on the other hand, stood in awe with his jaw as low as it could go. Twilight then stepped in and began to speak

"Spike, meet Roberto. Roberto, meet Spike."

"H-hi Roberto," said Spike with an obviously forced smile, "One question, what-"

Spike was interrupted by Twilight's hoof.

"We're gonna have a Q&A shortly, ask then," explained Twilight in a straight face.

"Wait, wait, wait. Is Spike a freaking Dinosaur?" I asked, a small glimmer of hope in my eyes.

"He's a baby Dragon," Said EVERYONE in the room.

"Oh... I thought they had wings. That's a bummer."

"They do, he's just a baby. I hatched him when he was just in an egg. I had to use my magic to hatch him to pass my entrance exam into the Princess's school of magically gifted, "She said, proud of her accomplishments, "I did so well, I became the Princess's personal protege."

'This is some weird world.'

"Okay everypony, let's get started!"

"Okay everypony, we're each going to take turns asking him questions," explained Twilight as she went over the completely unnecessary rules of the Q&A. 'I'm gonna take a guess and say she has OCD.'

"We'll go in the order of: Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, alright?" all of the ponies nodded in agreement except for me who just lay on the couch, embracing for all of the questions I was about to have to answer.

After that being said, Twilight began the whole cycle. "Okay, one question. Is there magic in your world?"

While I was still unsure whether or not this was real, I thought this would surely pass the time.

"Nope, just extreme advances in technology has helped us progress."

It then shifted onto Fluttershy who was still rather shy around me. "Do you take care of animals in your 'USA'?" She asked in her usually quiet tone.

"First off, just call it Earth. Secondly, yes. Most animals live in the wild with no one taking care of them, but themselves, but many people take a liking to certain domesticated animals. I, for one, have 2 cats."

"Oh, that sounds terrible for the ones in the wild," replied the yellow mare.

"Okay, next question," I exclaimed. The attention then shifted towards Pinkie Pie who seemed rather eager to ask her question... a little TOO eager.

"Do you like Parties?" asked Pinkie, as blunt as possible.

"Yes I do," I replied.

Before I could say anything, Pinkie Pie stood up and sprinted out of the building at a speed similar to a jet, leaving behind a trail of confetti. 'I'd be surprised if I wasn't in the land of talking ponies.'

"O-okay... next question I guess,"

Applejack then readied herself as if the next question depended on the fate of the entire world. She hadn't even been able to ask anything since we've met so it must be important.

"Do ya' like apples?" She asked in the most hopeful face.

"They're my favorite fruit!" I exclaimed. I wasn't exactly true though. I always preferred pineapple over all due to the fact that I grew up drinking Pina Colada due to my Puerto Rican heritage. One white lie couldn't hurt though.

"You're lying," She said, as serious as possible.

I was in shock. She saw it as if I had made it as obvious as possible. I even put up my best poker face.

"H-how did you know?" I asked as quizzically as possible.

"Ah'm the Element of Honesty. Ah can see right through yer' lies,"

"Element of Honesty?" I asked, scratching my head in confusion.

"I'll explain later, it's a long story," said Twilight, cutting in.

"Okay... next question!"

The long, and might I add, tedious Q&A halted to an abrupt stop as questions ran dry from each pony as the bid their farewells one by one, leaving the library to carry on the activities they each had today. Twilight and I sat in the middle of the room, still asking questions to each other because Twilight has to know everything.

The Question and Answer consisted of different categories ranging from the weather all the way to history and technology. Fluttershy asked questions mainly about biological subjects, Rarity was on about fashion, Rainbow Dash continued to ask ridiculous questions about "coolness", Applejack asked stereotypical cowboy questions along with food, and TWILIGHT asked EVERYTHING. She questioned every single smidgen of info of technology, history, and whatever she could get her hooves on.

'I'm gonna looooove this place.'

"-and that's how I saved the world from total destruction," Okay, maybe I lied on that last bit, but it's not like she'd care.

"You saved the world?" She asked in a tone of complete disbelief.

"Nope, but it made for a good story." This caused Twilight to face-hoof so hard, I coulda' sworn that I heard a crack.

"Ugh, well that's all I wanted to ask. I learned so much about your world!" Exclaimed Twilight in a cheery tone.

I hadn't told her everything. I'm pretty sure I'd be distrusted beyond belief if I talked about the massive amounts of war in my world. I mean seriously. In the state I was in (not knowing whether or not I was dead) I'd rather not be completely shunned from this place.

"Well... I wonder what to do," I asked myself in a hushed tone.

Before I could think of anything, Twilight jumped in surprise as if a light bulb had turned on over her head... which ironically did.

"I forgot! Pinkie told me to bring you to Sugarcube Corner afterwards!" Exclaimed Twilight as she began to sprint around to get everything in order before setting off.

"Umm... Sugarcube Corner?" I asked in confusion.

'It sounds like they're gonna try to give me DIABETES or something.'

"That's the sweet shop Pinkie works/lives in."

"Do all ponies live in their workplaces?" I asked as I stood up, stretching on my way up to emit a few "cracks".

"Not all ponies do. Some ponies just like the incredible convenience brought along with it," Answered Twilight as she slipped on a bag over her back, "Now let's go, we wouldn't want to keep her waiting!"

Twilight then opened the door and signaled to leave as she held the door open for me. I was rather skeptical to go, but I'm the the kind of guy to be rude, regardless of species.

I walk out as Twilight catches up to me. The only thing I have on my mind is one question.

"Why does she want me to Sugarcube Corner anyway?" I ask Twilight

"You'll see, it's a surprise."

The walk was relatively short compared to the walk to the library, but none the different otherwise. The streets were noticeably scarcer of ponies than last time, although the reactions were completely predictable. The ponies still stood baffled at my existence as if someone just slapped them in public for no reason.

When we reached Sugarcube Corner, I myself, was baffled. The place was just like a giant gingerbread house adorned with candy and other dietary obstructions. The candy corner smelled EXACTLY of sweets from where I was standing. I felt like a little kid in a candy shop... except add more more years and it becomes the same concept.

I quickly look through the pink-tinted windows to expect a pony of the same hue awaiting my arrival. Instead, I was welcomed with darkness. Suddenly, I pieced together the puzzle.

'Scarcity of ponies, Pinkie's abrupt exit, and the visit... Oh God, it's a surprise party... Awesome! I quickly get myself slightly presentable before a funny idea reaches my silly little brain.

'I know JUST what to do for this,,,'

Twilight then nudges me on the shoulder, bringing me back into focus. "I think we should go in now," said Twilight in a blank expression.

"Okay," I say before I ready my mind for my devilish plan

We silently open the door as Twilight nudges my forward, telling me to go first.

Suddenly, the lights flick on as I activate my trap card as I stop the world around me using my premeditated state.

I had been testing my power throughout the day, trying to figure out it's capabilities at the time being. I figured out that a full time stop could last for a full 2 minutes while the faster you make it from that point, added time. For example, half speed would be 4 minutes, quarter speed would be 8 minutes, so on so forth. After the specific time, a headache would grow for each second exceeding the time limit until I stopped.

I look around as I take in all that is around me. Dozens of ponies of many colors were piled into the small building to welcome me to Ponyville, how thoughtful. Pinkie Pie was holding onto a cannon for some reason, but instead of a cannonball, confetti sprinkled the air in front of it. The place was filled with decorations of all sorts with food, party games, and drinks all around.

I thought it was rather cute, but it was now my time to shine! I quickly turned around, trying to find a place to hide for the time being to complete the next step of my plan. I looked for a few seconds before my eyes fell upon a table completely covered with a table cloth that covered the table too much and reached all the way down to the floor.

I walked over to the table before reaching down, pulling the cloth up, and-

"Come back here!" Screamed a high-pitched voice that sounded identical to Pinkie Pie.

In shock, I turned around, searching for the source of the voice. I thought it was Pinkie Pie. My eyes fell upon Pinkie Pie who was exactly in the same position as before, as if that was never her voice although it undoubtedly was.

After a few seconds of searching the room, I shrugged my shoulders and continued back under the table to wait.

I then released my hold of time as everyone in the room let out a collective "huh?".

Even Twilight was baffled. She could have sworn that I had been right there.

"Where did he go?" Asked Twilight, confused like crazy.

"I've been here this whole time," I say as I climb out from under the table, adorning a completely serious face, trying my hardest not to burst out laughing.

Twilight was even more baffled now. She had no idea how that could even be physically possible. 'Oh Celestia no... Not another one.' She thought to herself, letting the idea go for the time being.

Everyone eventually eased up as they pushed aside that thought of extreme confusion. They already had a Pinkie Pie, so it wasn't so weird to them. They were still very confused.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped up onto a table and grabbed a megaphone out of nowhere.

"Whatever! It's time to PARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

Party

Time is of the matter

Party

This party was fantastic!...

Well, not really. While I was a fan of sugary sweets, This party was rather... childish. They played parodies of games I knew from when I was like, five. Pin the Tail on the Donkey's ponified version was apparently a popular game. The party continued without a hitch, entertaining everyone who could make it... well almost everybody.

The music playing wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but everypony seemed to be entranced by it. (Yes, I used everypony. I wasn't sure how long I'd have to be in this place.) Everyone of Twilight's friends were there. I had to stay away from Pinkie for the time being, so I decided my best bet were to chat around.

I quickly searched around the bright room, hoping to find anyone I knew or someone willing to talk in general. I was not going to play party games. I walked around to find Rainbow Dash pouring herself a cup of punch. I took this as my perfect opportunity to get away from all of the boredom and find something slightly interesting. All I really had on me for passing the time was my iPod and I'm NOT wasting that.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" I yelled as I ran over to her, grabbing her attention.

"Hey, whats up?" She asked, staying as cool as a cucumber as she turned to face me, obviously delighted to finally find something to do.

"I don't know... I'm kinda bored. This party isn't exactly my cup of tea. By the way, tea tastes terrible," I said as I rolled my eyes before turning to a table and sitting down. I then signaled Dash to take a seat on the other side.

She looked at me in confusion before asking, "What kind of parties do you like then? Nothing beats Pinkie Pie's parties."

"I prefer parties that aren't so BRIGHT. I also prefer more party fitting songs like electric with a DJ. I also like thee sweets, but it seems like she over-did it. I think I'd get diabetes from staying here too long,"

She just scowled before she chugged the rest of her beverage.

"Lighten up. It's the least you could do. Be grateful you even HAVE a party dedicated to you."

Okay, now I feel bad. I was just dis-heartened by a pony of all things, "You know what, you're right. I'm gonna go party if you need me."

"Alright... Say, why do you say you're so cool anyway?" Before she could get an answer, I stood up before glancing at her, turning around, and beginning to walk.

"You'll see... later," I walked towards the pink sweets table before grabbing a vanilla frosting cupcake and scarfing it down as if I'd never had a cupcake before. 'Gotta hand it to the Pink Menace... these cupcakes are DAMN tasty.'

I walked over to a table to relax as I searched for another antidote to my boredom. I couldn't spot anyone that I knew personally as there were literally HUNDREDS of ponies stacked into the store. I decided I'd take out my iPod to listen to music as I realized that there was nothing to do.

Before I could reach into my pocket and get it, I heard a certain voice come from nearby as I lifted my head up to reveal the Devil's spawn staring into my very eyes, penetrating into my soul. Pinkie Pie was sitting directly across from my table with the largest smile anyone could ever bare.

"So how do ya like the party!"

I remembered back to my talk with Rainbow Dash before I put on a content smile.

"It's the best party I think I've been to in a long time!" I said in a rather cheery tone. I then looked around to reveal that not a single other soul was talking as if they were waiting for a bomb to go off.

'Why me?'

I looked back at Pinkie who seemed to be really elated by my comment, "You know what it's time for?" She asked in a low voice, "CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

Pinkie then placed a giant chocolate frosting cake with the words "Welcome to Ponyville!" engraved on the front directly in front of me from out of nowhere.

Before I could say anything, Pinkie began to sing some sort of 'Welcome to Ponyville' song.

After it was finished, she placed a plate in front of me before giving the rest of the party guests a plate in the blink of an eye. I was about to say something before she skipped off and started to pass out slices to everyone.

After about a minute, she came towards my table and stared at me in anticipation.

"Umm... what?"

"You have to eat the first bite, silly! It's your party!" Answered Pinkie in a overly happy tone.

I sat there for a few moments in complete silence. The room around me was silent. Each pony had a slice of cake on a plate on one of their hooves as they awaited me to take a bite of my chocolate cake. Pinkie held the same smile, awaiting me to finally eat it before she would stop. The world around me seemed like it had froze. I looked back down towards the slice one last time as I finally came to a conclusion.

"I don't like chocolate."

At this moment, EVERY SINGLE PONY in the room collectively gasped as if they had never heard of someone who didn't like chocolate. Pinkie Pie still stood there, smiling brightly, trying to hide the fact that she was deeply dis-heartened by the fact that all of her work was thrown away from one small phrase. I couldn't bare it any longer.

"Pinkie, I'll eat it if it makes you happy," I said looking as grateful as possible while on the inside, I was really just mentally kicking myself.

Pinkie seemed to be completely reborn as soon as those words left my mouth. She smiled before saying, "Well what are you waiting for!"

I opened my mouth to yawn before it was abruptly disturbed as Pinkie shoved the entire slice into my mouth, making me gag. I was unsure what to do, so I began to chew as I took in the undesired taste.

I looked around to realize that the eyes were no longer on me, but on each other as they feasted on their cake slices and conversed. I, on the other hand, was looking for a bathroom to spit it all out.

After a few minutes of emptying my stomach, I walked back downstairs to be met with quite an empty room save for 6 specific mares, all waiting for me. Rarity was the first to spot me coming down from the stairs as she wondered one thing.

"Why were you upstairs, darling?"

"I was conversing with the toilet about today's cake," I said as I reached my hand to my stomach to signal what I meant. I was met with 5 disgusted mares save for Pinkie Pie who was completely oblivious to my encrypted message that even children could get.

After a minute of talk about the party, Each of the mares left one by one until Pinkie and I were in the room.

"Thanks again for the party Pinkie!"

"No Problemo Toe!" She said, calling me in a rather unusual yet familiar nickname.

"I hope we could do this again sometime. Cya' later!" I was about to exit the door before I stopped and turned to her.

"And by the way, only my friends back home call me Toe."

God, how I hated that nickname.

I looked up to the sky as the evening sun gleamed upon me. I was in a great mood. The world around me emitted a happy mood in the air. It seemed too unreal. I had been avoiding my circumstances of ending up in Equestria for a while now. I wanted to feel the same, but my mind chose against it. I wanted to go home. I missed my family, I missed my friends, but most of all, I missed my video games. It was such a tragedy.

'This can't be real.'

My mind raced as I stepped outside of the bakery, away from where my party was held. The clopping of hooves on cobblestone was all I heard around me as the ponies hustled through town, now used to the sight of a human. Everything seemed too unusual to be real. The grass was too green. The sky too blue. The world too cartoon-like. My mind conflicted inside, hiding from the eyes of others.

'What is this?'

I had no idea. I stood in place, the world completely different from me as I stood, lost in time. I was frozen. It took that long to realize that something was wrong. I was hiding the thoughts away. I could not accept what my mind was telling me. It was too real, yet too fake at the same time. All this time, I refused to rationalize. I had no idea what was happening to me.

'Why is this happening to me?'

I was just a normal guy. I didn't recall anything happened to me when this all started. My mind just decided to stick to one. It was made the most sense... yet it still didn't make sense.

'I have to be in a coma... but this it too real.'

I was beginning to panic, shaking in place. I began to sweat profusely from my forehead as my mind questioned my very being.

'This can't be real.'

My mind snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. I completely broke.

"This... isn't... REAL!" I screamed as my legs kicked into action, carrying me across the cobble at record speeds. Ponies looked in my direction but I was already gone.

I didn't know where to go, but I didn't stop. My legs carried me themselves as I passed by ponies and stalls in a blur. The world around me felt like it was shaking as my brain went haywire.

It felt like minutes before I crossed the boundary between Ponyville and the rest of the world. I was running blindly down the dirt path ahead, sprinting past tree by tree, trying to escape the conflict in my mind.

'I... need to sit down.'

I looked around in the distance before seeing a farm in the distance. It looked like the stereotypical farm, housing a barn with apple trees and plant life. What questioned my most was the fact that I saw pigs.

'I could have sworn these ponies were herbivores... whatever. This can't be real.'

I quickly made haste towards the farm, hoping to be able to escape this nightmare for now.

I reached the farm as I decided that I would relax in the barn.

I walked up to the door of the barn before opening it slightly to make sure that no one was inside. I was met with complete darkness accompanied by sweet silence. I slowly opened the door the rest of the way. I didn't want to get into an encounter with another pony just to throw me off.

I slowly crept blindly until I reached what seemed to be a bale of hay. I slowly turned away from it and rested myself on it. I wanted to get away and this was the best way possible.

I thought back to everything that had happened, From the Everfree to the party. I was utterly confused. I didn't know if I really was awake. I didn't know if I was actually in a different world.

'Moping won't do anything. I'm gonna have to face this myself. From now on, I'm gonna live here. Might as well have fun being here, no matter how long it'll be.'

After a moment of cheesiness, I slowly stood up. I realized that I had no idea where I was going to sleep anyway.

'I'm pretty sure the owner of this barn won't mind me for one night.

With that, I quickly searched around blindly until I found a pile of hay in the corner before lying down and closing my eyes.

'Goodnight Equestria.

Earlier...

The evening light shone as the orange mare retreated from the party after a long day. Applejack was exhausted after selling so many apples in the marketplace after bucking dozens upon dozens of apple trees in the morning, not to mention the huge event that occurred today with the human.

'Where was that fella' anyway?' She thought to herself as her hooves clopped along the cobblestone path away from the bakery.

She last remembered seeing the human at the party, but she had no idea where he was even going to stay. Applejack would have gladly let him stay in her guest room if granny would let her.

Applejack quickly shook off the thought as she continued down the path towards Sweet Apple Acres. The ponies around her were still talking about their experiences with the human and what he was.

Suddenly, she heard a male scream emanate from behind in the direction of the bakery that seemed all too familiar.

"This...isn't...REAL!"

'What in tarnation?' Thought Applejack as she jerked her head in the direction of the sound. All of the ponies around her did as well. She seemed to be too far away to pinpoint the location of the exact sound, so she decided to dismiss it for the moment.

Applejack turned her head back towards the direction of the farm as she looked forward to the nice, welcoming feeling of sleep. She would really need some sleep if she wanted to buck a good amount of apples tomorrow for sale.

Applejack reached her farm a the sun had completely set as the moon and stars of Luna's glorious night filled the sky. The breeze slowly pushed it's way through the leaves of the trees around her. She walked up to her barn as she prepared to set away the tools before going to rest.

Applejack slowly opened the door to the barn as she stared into the darkness of the room before lighting the lantern she had rested next to the door. The light of the lantern covered the entire room, revealing whatever it was that lay inside.

The orange mare looked around a bit before staring straight at what lay in a pile of hay.

Inside of the barn was Roberto of all people. She had no idea why he was here.

'I coulda' sworn he'd been stayin' with somepony else.' Thought Applejack as she questioned herself what to do.

'Ah'll let him stay here for th' night. Poor critter's probably got nowhere to go.'

Applejack then walked towards the corner of the room where a few blankets and pillows lay in case of a guest before grabbing a blanket in her mouth and walking up to Roberto. She slowly lay the blanket down over the sleeping human before turning towards the direction of her room and turning off her lantern, deciding not to put the tools away in case of waking him up.

Applejack quietly trotted to her room before she opened the door. She quickly lay her special stetson on her nightstand before lying down into her bed.

She closed her eyes before drifting off into a deep sleep.

'G'night, Roberto.'

Another Day

Time is of the matter

Another Day

'Another day.'

That's all I could think of as he slowly awoke from his slumber.

'Another day in this place.'

I slowly felt the feeling return to my appendages as the world are me swirled in a spiral of colors as the light of the bright reflected off the vibrant red walls of the barn. There were many oddities of this place when compared to other farms, but this one seemed to stick out the most: the distinct scent of apples.

My mind fixated on what I'd actually do today, but it drew a large blank.

'It's not like this could actually be real. I'm probably on the cafeteria floor or most likely a hospital room.'

I finally decided that I should get up, but before I could do anything, I realized the small, warm blanket splayed out across my body. It may have been sized for a child's bed, but it was much better than sleeping through the night with nothing. I then realized that the air around was rather chilled.

I pushed the blanket off of my body before folding it and placing it on a bale of hay right beside the pile of hay I had lain on. The least I could do was to thank the owner of the farm.

The world slowed around me as I got to my feet in a drowsy like fashion. I was just rather glad that It wasn't like reading a book for an hour before standing up. I began to think about my new power that had help me defeat a manticore in the a badass manner. I realized that I had been able to manipulate items and they soared when thrown, yet the manticore hadn't been able to move when I touched it.

'That's rather... peculiar.'

I took a few quick moments before I decided on doing a few short tests regarding my ability, whether it be real or not.

A small rock on the floor caught my attention before I walked over and picked it up. I then looked over to a broom in the corner before walking to the middle of the room. I then closed my eyes as I recalled how I was able to manipulate time.

I opened my eyes as I looked around. The room looked the same, but there was a noticeable difference in the two items. They both seemed to be weightless. I quickly walked over to the pile of hay before placing the broom on it, most of it hanging off.

The broom seemed to levitate in mid-air. I then threw the rock. It floated at a high speed, hitting the wall in a straight line parallel to the ground.

'Okay, so items seem be frozen themselves, but can be moved with force. They also seem to be weightless seeing on how gravity does not effect them when frozen.'

I then focused my mind off of time as the rock and broom fell to the ground.

*GASP*

My train of thought stopped as I spun around to where the voice seemed to emanate from. Behind me was a small pony with a slightly light red mane and fur that matched the inside of an apple. Go figure. The pony seemed to be one of youth as it was smaller than the others at the party yesterday.

The pony in question flinched as my gaze reached hers. It seemed to be rather frightened based on the expression on its face.

'Dilated pupils? Check, Defensive stance? I think so. About to scream? Ch-'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

The pony ran, and ran, and ran. It wasn't long before the apple-coloured pony ran out of view.

'Welp, first impressions went amazing.'

Applejack was out in the orchard, bucking the apple trees with much more vigor than before. It was Apple-bucking season this time around, and if she was going to finish the orchard without Big Mac's help, she'd need to get on it. It was only 7:30 in the morning, but after 1:30 hours of work, a pony can get tired.

A thud was heard as the orange mare's hooves collided with the apple tree. The force reverberated through the tree as the apples hanging from the branches proceeded to lose there attachment as they fell down to the wood of the buckets, not a single apple missing them.

Applejack took a deep breath of air as she looked at her work. She was an entire 30 minutes ahead in work. She small breather couldn't hurt. Applejack trotted up to the tree she had bucked before pushing aside on of the buckets with the apples inside. She then planted herself on the ground before pulling her stetson over her eyes.

She began to think about the recent events. That human had just met them, and he seemed to be really nice. He had a party, ate an apple, then slept in her barn.

'Now that Ah think 'bout it, what happened anyway?'

Before she could get up and return to work, a high-pitched scream began to grow louder.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPLEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

The sound was silenced as a small thud sounded from the leg of a very confused Applejack. Applejack looked down to see an aghast Applebloom sitting on her haunches. A jolt of worry quickly hit Applejack.

"What happened, Applebloom?" said Applejack with a stern expression.

"Th- the barn-, a-alien, thing... T-teleportin'!"

Applejack knew just who she was talking about.

'I shoulda' told Applebloom an' Big Mac!' She mentally smacked herself at the mistake she made.

"Don't worry, Applebloom. That critter landed 'n Ponyville yesterday. He's.. completely... harmless... Oooooh no."

"Um, Applejack? What's wrong?"

Applejack completely forgot about Big Macintosh.

'Big Mac could be tearing him ta' shreds!'

"Applebloom, stay right here!"

"Well. No point in staying here! I gotta clear that up. Children." I slowly shook my head in a disappointed manner.

I turned around before walking to the items I had used before and placed them in their respective spots. I then turned around and picked up my belongings, which, wasn't very much. I looked to the door began I walked to it. I looked out the door, but all I could see were hundreds of apple trees.

I was interrupted from a deep growl emanating from my stomach. I hadn't eaten anything for almost 2 days, not counting the cake. The only treats at the party that wouldn't give me diabetes had hay in it.

I look back up to the rows upon rows of apple trees lined up in front of me.

'I love my luck.'

The urge to eat had me forget on thing. How was I supposed to get those apples. I sprinted over to the nearest apple tree. The tree had was rather short and the lowest sturdy branch was about 9 feet up. I recalled my hobby with parkour before I took a few steps back. I then ran at full speed before attempting to plant my foot against the tree.

I missed. My face then proceeded to smack into the base of the tree.

I would be yelling in pain from the pain in my face, but my hunger overtook that. I stepped back again before running forward once again. This time, my foot hit the center of the tree as I turned all of my forward moment up. My other leg then lifted up and pushed me once again. I was able to grab onto the branch before pulling myself up.

Before I could dig in, a deep voice was heard getting closer. The voice belonged to a rather large red stallion who had a yoke around his neck. He seemed to be part of the family who owned the orchard, seeing how he had an apple... tattoo thing.

The red stallion then looked into the barn I was once in before letting out a little sigh.

I disregarded the stallion before grabbing the nearest apple. I dug in as quick as possible. The apple was unlike other apples I'd eaten. This apple, was eaten right off the tree. In other words, the apple was normal.

'Why did I expect this apple to be the best apple I'd ever eaten?'

I finished the apple before grabbing the nearest on before digging in.

*THUD*

Suddenly, a force jolted up the tree I was in. The tree shook violently for a second before it stopped. The shock knocked me right off the branch I was on.

I was met with a faceful of wooden bucket.

"Why did you choose him?"

"Ohoh, just wait and see. Wait and see..."

A/N:

I updated this? That's impossible!

I was planning on making this 3 times longer, but for the 8 hour time period I had, a majority of it was Youtube and random story updates.

I apologize for my previous chapters. They weren't EXACTLY like how I wanted it to be.

Well, enjoy!

-munomana (moo-noh-mah-nah)

Fun Times in Ponyville Pt. 1

Time is of the Matter

Fun Times in Ponyville.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

I couldn't ignore the immense pain that surged through my head. It stung like hell, continuing to hurt every second I waited. I attempted to focus on other things as a leeway for the pain, but it never stopped. I don't think I had ever experienced such pain in my life. It felt like someone had ripped open a large portion of my skin and shoved a thousand splinters in there.

Actually, that's what happened in reality, but you get the point.

I tried to open my eyes, but the blinding light prevented me from doing so. I was too afraid to try turning my head away from the sun, in fear that I cold damage it any further. The trickle of blood from the crack continued to leak slowly but surely. I wasn't sure as to how much damage I actually received, but I could tell that it was bad nonetheless. I chalked it up the probably a few stitches.

I tried to remember what happened, but it had all gone by in such a flash that it escaped my mind. I could only remember-

Then it struck me.

'I'm still in Equestria...'

I let out a large sigh. It wasn't a good realization, but at least I didn't cough up blood like every other action hero.

I didn't necessarily care so much about being here, but it was more of one fact about this scared me more:

Being alone.

I shook off the thought as a sharp surge of pain washed through my body. It felt like a sudden shock in my body. I wasn't sure where it came from, but it stung. the shock caused my body to violently raise itself into the air before coming back down.

'Wake up!'

I couldn't help but hear something familiar. I couldn't necessarily pinpoint it, but it sounded familiar. It sounded sincere. It seemed like I had known it for a long time, maybe even a life-time...

As my body came to a rest, I could only think but feel around my body. I felt grass. I felt warm sunlight embracing my body. I felt a large, wooden bucket.

'Oh yeah...'

I slowly opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. The pain stopped in my eyes before re-directing to my head once again. It didn't hurt as much as I had originally thought it would. It felt like a big sting, but it really wasn't as bad as my analogy from before took it as.

My hand reached behind me before coming into contact with the area of my pain. A sharp flood of pain flooded through my head before subsiding. I winced for a second before reaching my hand back to in front of me. My hand was stained a crimson red, reminding me of my stupidity to eat in a tree.

I looked around: Tree, tree, apple, bucket, son, baffled red stallion, and barn.

I glanced back at the stallion, slightly confused as to why he was baffled.

'Well, you're an alien who fell from their tree and is now bleeding profusely onto the grass in front of him.'

I really didn't care so much about my location right now, but more of what to do. If I didn't find medical attention soon, I'd probably pass out and bleed to death. I normally wouldn't care about it in Equestria, but I wasn't sure if it was real or not, seeing as how it freaking hurt like hell.

'Let's see... I ran for a while getting here, have no clue where the original ponies I met lived, and have NO IDEA WHERE THE HOSPITAL IS.'

I ran over my options.

'I could die, beg the stallion right here, aimlessly sprint around Ponyville, travel back in time, learn to fl-... wait...'

I had completely forgotten about my power to manipulate time.

'HOLY SHIT! I'm an idiot for not knowing that one! I just hope this works.'

There was a small problem for our protagonist, though. One that impeded his successful common sense usage.

The fact that he had no idea how to reverse time.

'Aw crap.'

I thought on it for a few moments, trying to figure out how to do it. Sadly, after thirty seconds of mulling, nothing came to mind.

'If mental power doesn't help me here, I'll have to try hands-on...'

The bones in my body all cracked as I attempted to stretch. They didn't hurt, just relieved in a way I had never felt before. I started to feel a tad bit better, but that wasn't enough to distract me of my head pain.

I planted my hands to the grass before pushing my back off the ground slowly, causing the red stallion to take a precautious step backwards. As I rested on a full sitting position, reached my left hand back to cover the wound. I then used my right arm down, allowing my feet to rest flat on the floor. I then pushed myself up into a standing position.

Without warning, I began to feel light-headed. I wasn't sure if it was because of the blood or the sudden standing, but it didn't matter.

I reached my hand to my eyes to confirm of the blood. Luckily, my hand wasn't soaked, more like covered.

'Alright, don't fail me now!'

My eyes closed gently, trying my best to keep my mind awake simultaneously. My mind reeled as I began to think. I thought of the past moments. I thought of backwards. I thought of the moments from now, only in reverse.

It was unusual, though. Normally, when I attempted to play a scene in my head, it tends to do a, "fast-forward"-esque thing. It would play 5 minutes within 10 seconds. Instead, the scene displayed at real time. Sort of like a television set re-winding. It felt weird. If I turned around, the scene continued to play, only missing... me.

The blood retreated, dissipating into nothing. The pain in my head slowly disappeared, along with the blood, cut, and bits of wood, all going in reverse. The unusual part was the fact that the splinters didn't just go back to the bucket. The floated a few feet before falling to the ground, similar to how I got up. It seemed that everything I moved while reversing time, like the splinters in my head, didn't reverse perfectly. The bucket pieces were put together, but the blood stain stayed. It was highly unusual. As it continued, the red stallion proceeded to go in reverse, even showing how I was knocked out of the tree, only without, well, me.

As the stallion picked up his bucket and reared out of site, I ran behind a different tree. It was only then that I realized I had visualized the whole thing in my head and my eyes were still closed. I opened my eyes, to see the the reverse effect voided as the stallion turned around a corner of the barn. He proceeded to replicate his actions up until he bucked the tree, where he then continued to nonchalantly walk to the next, and then the next.

'Is he the owner? I need to thank whoever owns this place.'

I mulled over it for a second. I was about to run out and thank him, but based on how he reacted when he saw me, he didn't seem to know what I was, seeing as how he might live on a farm all the time to work.

'I'll have to find someone else... but who?'

Deciding on a plan, I snuck out from behind the tree, jumping to the next, watching and waiting until the farmpony was out of sight. Once he was gone, I ran right over to the side of the barn, attempting to find a pony in the distance or in the apple fields. The orchard expanded too far, so I decided to give up and check inside.

I stared through a front window, no dice.

I sighed as I turned around. I sat down against the farm wall. It was an unusual experience, seeing as how I haven't had a REAL moment of pure rest. No worry. No pain.

I thought about how I would cope in this place. It was too unreal in and of itself, but the physical experience was as real as any other.

I truly was neutral on the whole situation. True, I missed my family terribly, but the rest of my life was spent sitting through tedious classes. They weren't the most exciting, seeing as how my brother always loved to teach me new concepts he learned. He was three grades ahead.

'Ahh, that day in second grade when I quizzed everyone on exponents... good times.'

I could feel a small tear form in my eye, but I quickly wiped it away. No need to get nostalgic now.

On the side of Equestria, it also had its pros and cons. For the pros, I had freaking time control power! I had always wanted that power more than anything. It was like all powers in one, only needing to find out ways to use it correctly. Also, I had met some ponies it wouldn't hurt to call, "friends", now. My life wasn't spent at a desk all day. I had felt more alive in these days than any other day of my life on Earth.

The biggest con was... Being alone.

I was afraid. Afraid of never seeing another family member, friend, classmate, or just human being. Now, these ponies are fantastic ponies, but they could never replace those ones I've had before. I was honestly afraid. Not a fear you experience in a scary situation. It was a new fear that I had never felt before.

You know that feeling when you've lost a relative? You remember the good times, you cherish those moments. You also fear the future without them, how drastically your life will change without their love and company. Their emotions and characteristics.

That's what it felt like.

I tried my best to change the subject just as I noticed I began to slightly hyperventilate.

I slowly calmed down, trying to think of ways to fix this. To get back home.

In the distance, ahead of the trees, I began to notice a small, orange speck. It grew larger and larger. As it neared, I noticed another small speck on top, fur color similar to that of the inside of an apple.

As the pair neared, I instantly recognized the two; The orange one Applejack, and the pony on top was the one that caught me inside the barn.

'Perhaps she's Applejack's sister and told her about me.'

The clip-clop of her hooves were easily audible as she slowed to a halt in front of me. The upper pony continued to stare confusedly at me, seeing as how she had never seen me before. She didn't seem to be scared any more, more like intrigued. As if she wanted to... figure me out.

"Apple Bloom, it's okay. Roberto 'ere won't ever hurt ya'."

The filly seemed to soften at those words. She then jumped off of Applejack's back before trotting up to my face. She continued to stare for a few moments before running off into the distance, yelling something about, "Crusaders".

I turned my attention back to Applejack who turned from Apple Bloom back to me.

"Hey, Applejack."

I lifted myself off the wall before looking around.

"Oh, hiya Roberto! Nice ta' see ya' awake now."

"I didn't know you lived on this orchard... Thanks for letting me stay the night, I was really confused."

Applejack then seemed to put on a smile. She lifted her hoof out to mine, which I gladly accepted.

"Yup, been raised here since Ah was a filly. Also, any friend of mine's welcome in mah' orchard."

I looked around hastily for a moment. I was slightly surprised to hear that she owned the orchard herself, but nonetheless, that didn't really matter at the moment. I needed to find my way into town.

"Sorry to keep this conversation short, Applejack, but could you point in the way of Ponyville? I want to talk to Twilight."

I rubbed the back of my head, trying my best to not be rude. The last thing I needed were enemies.

"Actually, partner, Twilight told me to bring ya' on over to her house once ya' woke up! Ah'll just walk ya' there. We can chat on the way."

I shot her a glance of appreciation. It's the little things like a chat on my way that brighten up my day.

"Thanks Applejack."

The two then walked away from the barn, headed towards Ponyville.

Author's Note

Yay! This story isn't dead!

Took me 4 hours, and it sure as hell was fun to do. I also think the writing quality is much better in this chapter.

Also, since this story, I've made two more, both of which I'd appreciate if you'd check them out, seeing as how one of them is more popular than this story.

Thanks again to my readers for pushing me to do this! Please leave a like or favorite. It really brightens up my day.

EDIT: Sweet! Finally featured!

-munomana