There is always a Sparkle in the blackest hole

Ponyville
2:00 PM
Derek P.O.V.

The town had been notified that Derek was in fact, NOT a monster. Allowing Derek to step outside the castle without everypony hiding from him. Twilight even decided to give Derek a quick tour around Ponyville. Many ponies would give him some cautious looks but they seemed to tolerate him. She led him around town, giving quick fun facts about the town along the way. The tour ends at a place Twilight called "Sugarcube Corner." Derek couldn't help but smile to himself as he imagined the place as a bar where ponies got sugar cubes. Again associating things with horse stereotypes. However, as they approached the building, Derek's eyes went wide as the whole building seemed to be made of baked goods.

Twilight leads Derek inside, where he sees 5 different kinds of ponies of various colors. Almost all of them were a bit taken back upon seeing him. Twilight then steps in front of Derek so that she may address them.

"Girls, I want you all to meet Derek." Twilight said calmly before then turning to Derek. "Derek, these are my friends." Derek looks at the group who looked at him curiously. A blue one with a rainbow mane flew right up to him and got in his face.

"Just what in the hay are you supposed to be?" She asked. She was so close it caused him to take a step back.

"I'm... I'm a human." He answered her, astonished how she could fly.

"Human? But humans are extinct." She questioned.

"Humans are extinct?" Derek questioned while looking at Twilight. She cringed while looking at him.

"Yeah... technically. There was a tribe of humans on our world, but they died off about 200 years ago." Twilight replied.

"But... I'm technically not even from this world, how could there have been other humans here at some point?" Derek began a line of questioning.

"I'll explain later Derek." She replied, looking away from him. The next thing Derek knew, a brand new kind of pony was in his face, a bright pink one that smelled like cotton candy.

"OOO! I have never met a human before! I thought they were all gone! Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She spoke so fast, it made Derek's head spin.

"Pinkie Pie? That is... quite a fitting name." He replied as she somehow slowly descended on the ground.

"I know right! Imagine if my name was Greenie Pie! It wouldn't make sense because I'm pink!" She begins to ramble, He looks to Twilight for help and she just chuckles before stepping in.

"Derek is going to be staying in town with us for a bit until we can, fully understand his situation." Twilight explained, she was standing right next to him. "It's possible he could be staying a really long time."

"Really? Well then allow me to be the first one to welcome you Mr. Derek." An orange pony with a Stetson hat approached him and offered him her hoof. He gently took it and shook it. "My name is Applejack."

"Applejack huh? Are you the one who owns that apple orchard just outside of town?" Derek began to piece things together.

"Yes I am, Sweet Apple Acres! That's the pride and joy of my family right there." Applejack gave him a wide and prideful smile.

"Oh, I see. Well here then." Derek reached into one of his pockets and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and pulled out a five dollar bill. "I kinda took some apples without permission, will this be enough to cover them?" He offered her the bill. Applejack looked down at the green piece of paper before giving him a weird look.

"What in tarnation is that?" She asked him before giving it a sniff.

"It's... Money. You don't have money here?" He began to say before he quickly realized. "Aw man I forgot..." He looked down, reached into his wallet and pulled out more of his money, close to $150. "This is all useless here... Man how am I gonna fix that window I broke..."

"What is that? Looks like lettuce!" Said Pinkie taking one of the bills into her mouth, she chewed it for a moment before spitting it out. "Bleh! It tastes salty!" Derek picked up the bill before giving it a shake to get the spit off of it.

"It's the currency from my world... might as well be play money now..." Derek sighed. Applejack just scratched her leg with her hoof awkwardly.

"Just... whatever you took is on the house Sugar cube." Said Applejack, Derek dropped his head and began to stare at the ground.

"I'm sorry Derek." Twilight gave him a slight hug with her wing to comfort him. "Try not to focus on that right now, I brought you here to show you some fun."

"Fun?" He looked down at her, giving her a weird look.

"Yeah. I wanted to cheer you up, and no one throws a party like Pinkie Pie!" Twilight gave Pinkie a wink which causes Pinkie made a loud gasp and got right back into Derek's face.

"She's right! You're new here, and I need to throw you a welcome to Ponyville Party! I'll be right back! I gotta invite some guests!" Pinkie then darted out the front door without another word. Derek blinked twice, still trying to process what just happened. Twilight chuckles as Derek was not used to Pinkie Pie's over activity.

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, can you go help Pinkie?" Twilight asked with an amused expression.

"Can do Sugar cube. Come on Dash." Said Applejack.

"Right behind ya." Said the pony, apparently named Rainbow Dash. They both exited the door, Twilight then motioned Derek to take a seat. He sat down on one of the chairs, it again sat too low.

"Alright, you met Two of my friends, the one who left with Applejack was Rainbow Dash." She explained while Derek again thought the name fit. "These two are Fluttershy and Rarity." A white pony with a purple mane approached him.

"Hello Darling, I'm Rarity and... my word what are you wearing?" She asked him giving his outfit a displeasing look.
"This? This is my uniform for work. I'm... well I USED to be a custodian." Derek put a hand on his chest. He was still wearing the brown janitor one piece.

"You work in THAT!? Wherever you're from, your employers need to be reported for pony right violation! It's a CRIME to force somepony to wear that dreaded thing!" Rarity exclaimed. Rarity begins to hyperventilate as Twilight leads her to a corner to try and calm her down. Derek was wide eyed, how could someone get so offended over an outfit?

"The hell was that all about? Are all these ponies a bunch of nutcases?" He began to think to himself as Fluttershy began to approach him. Derek looks down at her, once his gaze met her, she eeped and hid behind her mane. "And the answer is... yes!" He had a slightly unamused face for a second before shaking his head. He leaned forward, not trying to do any sudden movements. "I know they get offended by horse stereotypes, but I literally feel like I'm trying my best not to scare off a wild animal right now." Derek then finally offered his hand to the frightened yellow pegasus.

"Hi there, my name is Derek. You don't have to be afraid of me." He said calmingly. Fluttershy slowly began to peek back out, still pretty scared of him.

"....t-tall... s-s-so tall..." She quietly said to him. If he hadn't been focusing on her, he may not have even heard her. Derek chuckled a bit at her observation.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty tall compared to you guys. But, I swear I'm friendly." He kept trying to reassure her, his hand still outstretched to her.

Twilight P.O.V.

She dared not take another step until Twilight approached the two, noticing Fluttershy's hesitation.
"It's ok Fluttershy, he is nice." Twilight said.
"A bit rude, but he is nice." Twilight said to herself in her head as she furrowed her brow a bit. Fluttershy was still a bit hesitant, causing Derek to let out a sigh and begin to lean back. Twilight began to whisper in her ear.
"What's wrong Fluttershy?" Fluttershy turned and whispered back.

"He's so tall... and intimidating." She admitted.

"Please try to give him a chance, he's lost everypony he knew." Twilight began to inform her. "How he got here has caused him to lose everypony he has cared about. He's alone and scared. I just want him to have a few friends here to make him feel at home." Fluttershy gave Twilight a look before looking back at Derek. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, sitting with his back against the seat and he was in looking off to the side. His expression was soft, and sad, causing Fluttershy to feel a great bit of sympathy for him. She slowly but surely steps forward, catching Derek's eyes as he turns to look at her. She still felt a bit nervous under his gaze but she continued to get closer. She gently places her hoof on his knee, causing Derek to move his hand on top of her hoof. She was a bit taken back by how gentle he was. Fluttershy gave him a soft smile, causing Derek to smile back at her. Twilight smiled at both of them. She was happy that she was introducing Derek to new ponies, and hoping to have him make some new friends here. Speaking of which, it was around that time Pinkie came running back in.

"Ponies are invited, time for baking!!!" She announced before darting into the kitchen without another word. Applejack and Rainbow Dash come sauntering in the door after her, both looking worn out.

"What in the world happened?" she Asked the both of them.

"Pinkie... ran through... whole town... in 5 minutes." Applejack said through heavy panting.

"She is a work out." Dash complained before landing on her hooves. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at her friends. It wouldn't take long for some ponies to begin to show up, and for Pinkie to bring out some baked goods for everypony. Twilight kept next to Derek to help him meet new ponies, where some were pretty eager to meet him. Before long the party was in full swing, everypony was mingling and enjoying pinkie's cupcakes. Derek especially, since missing out on lunch, he ate about 8 cupcakes. He couldn't get over how good they were. Twilight noticed how he was really starting to open up and to her pleasant surprise, began to make friends. The party would last for a few hours before some of the ponies began to leave.

Shared Perspectives
10:00 PM

Derek and Twilight were the last ones to leave, after saying goodbye to Pinkie and thanking her for throwing an incredible party at such a short notice. Derek left smiling, he was surprised by how much he was smiling. He couldn't remember how long he had gone to a party, even longer since a party had been focused on him. Twilight led him back to the castle where she led him to one of the many guest rooms. It was smaller than the bedroom he was in earlier, but it most certainly will do.

"Until we can find you a place of your own Derek, you can stay at my castle." She offered as she steps into the guest room and examined the bed. "Hope this bed is big enough for you."

"It will do, thanks." Derek said as he reached behind him and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, Twilight, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course? What do you need?" She turned her head to give him a curious look. Derek stepped in, closing the door behind him. He sat down on the bed in front of Twilight. His smile was now gone, and a look of shame and guilt replaced his expression.

"I just... want to express my thanks... and tell you how sorry I am." He said softly, looking at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

"You're sorry?" She leaned in closer towards him.

"Y-yeah." He took off his hat and laid it down on the bed. "I have been... kind of a dick to you. When we first met, and when I first woke up. I just don't know how this place works, and I was pretty stressed out. I really didn't mean to act that way towards you, you have been really nice... No! You have been more than nice, and I was such an asshole!... I'm just... I'm just really sorry Twilight." He put one of his elbows on his knee and rested his face into his palm. Twilight gives him a very warm smile, using her hoof to move away his hand and to lift his chin so that he could see her face. He looked right into her eyes, she had the softest and most reassuring expression, one that told him that she forgave him without even speaking yet. But what drew him in the most were her eyes. They were... beautiful. They had a gorgeous shade of purple and, and they looked at him with content. He feels his cheeks get a bit warm as he feels like he could look into her eyes forever. She was so... cute. For a pony, she was cute.

"I forgive you Derek. I know now you aren't from around here, and I know you're scared. I started to brush off what you said earlier, but it means a lot to hear you apologize." Twilight could feel the stiffness in his jaw as she held his chin in her hoof. She started to analyze his face. She could see his small, but bright green eyes as they looked at her, the hair on his chin and lip coming in, his short and thin brown mane. Despite not being a pony, she thought he was pretty handsome. Derek reached up with his hand and took her hoof, the fur around her hoof was so soft, like he was holding a plush. And she couldn't believe how gentle his hand was. They both looked down as they held hands and hooves, both lost in their own thoughts about each other. Derek was the first one to notice what they were doing and slowly pulled his hand away, his cheeks getting warmer. Twilight too started to blush as she brought her hoof back to the floor.

"*Ahem* Uh... Derek. Do you mind If I ask you a few questions, about you as a human? As long as you don't mind! No ponies nowadays have ever met a human, and I want to know everything about you." She asked with a forced smile to try and get her mind to focus on something else.

"Yeah, of course. just let me get out of this one piece real quick." Derek stood up and unzipped the zipper on his janitor's uniform. Twilight lit her horn to move a chair over to her, but she was quickly distracted as Derek stood up. Twilight Watches Derek as he begins to take off the suit he was wearing. He had clothes on underneath, which she thought was weird to have clothes on under clothes.

"Why doesn't he just go naked like the rest of us?" She was thinking to herself. He then let the janitor suit fall down to his waist, revealing he was wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt. Twilight's eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed as she saw his arms. They didn't have any fur on them, allowing her to see his muscles underneath. He wasn't the most built guy in the world, but he had some definition in his arms. "Oh... sweet Celestia..." Twilight thought to herself. Derek then allowed the suit to drop to his ankles as he then stepped out of it completely. He had on jeans with a few rips at the knees. He then stretched, the bones in his back popped a bit as he stretched. Twilight bit her lip as she watched him, she then dims the magic on her horn.

"You know, I-I can wait until morning to ask you those questions... you have to be exhausted right?" Twilight said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Now that you mention it, yeah kinda." Derek replied, sitting back on the bed to remove his shoes.

"Ok... I will just leave you alone then... Good night Derek." Twilight said as she quickly left and shut the door.

"ok... Goodnight." He said as he slid his shoes off.
"I wonder what her deal was... I kinda wished she didn't leave. I like talking to her... looking at her... feeling her fur." His eyes widened at his own thoughts. "Jesus I need to calm down! I'm turning into a creep! I guess I just need sleep. I hope things aren't weird in the morning... at least less weird." Derek then laid down on the bed, he was just barely tall enough for it. Twilight stood just outside his door trying to collect her own thoughts.

"Oh my gosh! I had no idea how... how muscular he was! Ok Twilight, calm down, deep breaths. You don't want to seem like a pervert to your new friend... but I got in close to him... and he looked very handsome. GOSH! Ok... I need to distract myself. Hopefully I have a few books on humans in my library, I need to read up on his species." Twilight then began to make her way to her library.