A Second World and a Second Self

by Zephyrius

Rating: teen
Tags: Lyra, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flitter and Cloudchaser, Comedy, Adventure, Human
Length: 9398

A brony walks home from a party and a dark cloud takes him to Equestria. Another half awaits.

After a party with some friends Chris and his friends are walking home when a large dark purple cloud shoots from the sky and hits them, next thing he knows he's in a forest with a strange blue unicorn pony. He must search to find the reason for his sudden residency in Equestria.

Adventure awaits!

Published 2012-10-01 00:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-19 02:18:14 UTC

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

'"Hey man, you want shrooms on your pizza?"

"How many times do I have to tell you man? I don't want any of your psychedelic mushrooms, just the kind that already comes on it."

"Fine, what about Joseph and Billy?"

"Nope."

"Eh...Nah."

"Am I the only fun guy here?"

As he said this, I turned around and gave him a bewildered look,

"Jake, I think you're the only dumb one here."

To which he pouted and sulked back in to the kitchen,

"Shet uhp!" Jake slurred.

I can never stop wondering why Jake likes to get all high before watching ponies.

"Who wants a beer?"

"Jake, are you retarded?"

"Okay then, beers for everyone!"

*Wham* *Wham* *Wham*

I felt a cold can slam in to my head from behind, I hit the floor and look up to see Billy holding his junk and Joseph with a nosebleed. Dear lord my head is on fire.

"Did you have to throw them, asshole?"

"No, I wanted to!"

"Just get the pizza, dude."

"Eh...Okay!"

I climbed back into my chair, as did Joseph and Billy. Since Jake was the only one to get the Hub, we would always hang out at his house around 7 every Saturday and watch ponies, which he had so intelligently (imagine that) DVR'd that morning. It was definitely a good deal since all of us were normally off work around that time. The odd thing was, Jake made the least money and spent it the most frivolously, yet he was still able to afford a house while the rest of us just had apartments. I suspected it had to do with income that wasn't from his day job.

"Here's the pizza."

Jake then dropped two boxes on the table; we all proceeded to eat pizza and watch 'Dragon Quest.' About fifteen minutes through, my vision got a little hazy, and I figured that it was just a beer buzz. By the time the episode was over, it was as if the world had been flipped. Everything was moving and colors weren't staying the same. OH CRAP.

"Jake!"

"Wassa Man?"

"Did you put shrooms on my freaking pizza?"

"Um... Maybe?"

I stood up and tripped over the table by my chair and fell face-first on the floor, needless to say, everyone started laughing their asses off.

"Holy shit, Jake, did you put shrooms on all of the pizza?"

"...."

"Where the hell is he?"

By now, Joseph, Billy, and I were completely messed up. Since we were in no condition to search for the bastard, we just sat down and drank a few more beers and watched last weeks episode. After another fifteen minutes or so, Jake walked in.

"What's up fellas?"

"You slinky ass, get over here. I'm gonna beat you senseless."

Jake, Joseph, and I all looked at Billy, he had just said one of the weirdest things to ever pass his lips. Jake wasn't even concerned with Billy's hollow thereat.

"So guys, I hear that a few other bronies are having a party downtown, wanna go?"

Still all shroomed up, we couldn't help but agree. Besides, it would be pretty fun, right?

2 Hours Later.

"PINKIE PIE IS THE BEST PONY!"

"NO, Rainbow Dash is!"

"Shut up you idiots, everyone knows that AppleJack is the best!''

I swear, Billy has been arguing with these two dudes for thirty minutes. I think their names are Kevin and Alex, although I'm not completely sure. I've about had enough of the yelling anyways.

"How about everyone keeps their opinions to themselves and I don't get a headache?"

"But come on man, you know Pinkie Pie is the best!"

"No, shut up, no more..."

"Whatever man, hey guys, lets take this argument over to that corner huh?"

"Sure, why not, I enjoy debate."

Now that was just weird, Kevin likes debate (more like a flame war). Jake walked in and proceeded to tell everyone that he made a Pinkie Pie themed drink (much to Billy's excitement), which everyone apparently liked the thought of, there was then a rush to the other room, where at least thirty bronies were going ape-shit for punch. By the time I got some there was only about a half cup left. Well, I got a bit, so no complaints, and it was actually pretty good, I mean it was like a freakin party in my mouth! Maybe that's why it was Pinkie Pie themed?

We then heard the guy who owned the house say something about the party being over, so Jake, Joseph, Billy, and I decided to leave with Alex, Kevin, and their friend Chelsea. We were having a pretty good conversation about AppleDash shipping when Joseph fell over. Seriously, he just falls the fuck over in the middle of an alley. We all just stared at him, and then I felt it...CRAP

"Jake, what the hell was in that punch?"

"Vodka, Kool-Aid, and cactus juice."

"Cactus juice?"

"Peyote!"

At this point, I and the others were obviously alarmed and Kevin was hyperventilating.

"Anything else, you drunken moron?"

"Um..."

"I might have put a little bit of ecstasy in it."

"What in the name of God did you do that for?"

"I thought it would be kind of fun, plus you seemed kinda tense and you said you had a headache, I couldn't let a friend suffer, could I?"

You know, I do believe that he actually did it out of kindness, he seriously was the nicest guy any of us knew, even though he had a twisted sense of humor. I couldn't really be mad at him considering, but it was a very upsetting act on his part.

*Thwump* *Thwak*

I turned to see Kevin and Billy both on their backs.

"Jake, look what you did."

"Oh no! I didn't think that amount would to that!"

"Dude, you didn't think hard enough, huh?"

"I guess not, I'm sorry man."

*Thud*

There went Chelsea, I turned back to see Jake tripping out and looking at the sky, I lifted my head up to look as well, I didn't see much, until Jake pointed it out.

"Is that a comet?"

As I looked closer I could see what looked like a large rock hurtling straight down towards us, it seemed to have some sort of dark sparkling aura about it.

*Thump*

Well, there goes Alex.

"Hey Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"If this thing kills us, just remember that whenever we get where we are going, I'm going to beat you down."

"No you're not man, you aren't violent like that."

"Yeah, I know."

The rock looked to be only about ten or so seconds away. You know, I guess this isn't the worst end a guy could go through, just an instant and then nothing, right?

*Thwump*

Huh, I guess I'm the most resilient to drunken date rape. Well, maybe because I had less of Jake's punch than everyone else. I do admit, it was good, if only he hadn't put his cactus juice and ecstasy in it, this could have been a better night.

I looked up again, it seemed that there was about five seconds left, and I swore it looked like it was encased in pony magic.

"What the heck?"

As the rock approached the only thing I could think of was that I would never be able to go to BronyCon, and that I wouldn't get to say goodbye to parents or my younger brothers. As the rock hit, I realized that it wasn't a rock, but a dark blue cloud, which slammed in to us. As soon as the haze hit us, everything turned black, everyone disappeared, and my entire body seemed as if it were on fire. I could feel my skull expanding, my bones shifting, and my skin changing. By this time I had gone in to shock, and I could feel my body convulsing and beginning to shut down. The last thing that I saw before I blacked out was a dark, yet beautiful forest.

Well, how was it? Please do tell what I should fix and any suggestions are welcome!

Note, I do not partake in use of narcotics, hallucinogens, or any other illegal substances, nor alcohol. All character experiences in that realm are from stories told to me by friends.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2: The Second Self

Well, my second chapter, here it goes!

Chapter 2: The Awakening

Waking. I slowly regained consciousness, I'm pretty sure that I would have been out longer, had it not been for someone kicking my side. As I opened my leaden eyelids I could see a blurry blue object above me. When I blinked again I could see that it was an ice blue unicorn. Wait!

A unicorn? What the hell?!

"Oh, finally! I thought you'd never wake up!"

"Oh my God!"

"What?"

"You're a pony!"

'Um duh, of course I am! So are you in case you hadn't noticed.'

What the hell? I ran over to a pool, or at least I tried to, but when I attempted to stand I fell flat on my face. The blue mare started laughing and I looked at her in a plea to help me stand. She then nudged me up to my hooves, yet I was still wobbly, I figured I would be for a bit at least.

"Wow, I stood on my first try."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I woke up I saw you laying next to me, and when I went to wash my face off I notice the colors of my coat and mane matched yours."

Hmm, that's a bit odd, does it really matter? Well, it might, guess I'll ask right?

"So?"

"I don't know, but the only differences between you and me are that I am a unicorn and you are a pegasus and that I am a mare"

She then emphasized her next point by poking my lower region with her hoof.

"Are not."

By this time I had become coordinated enough to walk over to the pool, and as I peered in I saw that our colors matched exactly! I don't know what's going on, or how that dark cloud got me here, but I sure as hell am going to find out!

"How far away is the nearest city?"

"Um, I have no idea, I'm as clueless as you are."

"Then how did you get out here?"

"I have no idea!"

"What do you mean you have no idea?!"

She gave me a look that said 'You're an idiot.'

"I don't know how I got here, I was just walking back home from a party with some friends and then some big ole dark purply blue cloud-thingy comes out of the sky and hits us."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Um, yeah?"

"That's what happened to me."

She gave me a funny look and asked;

"What's your name?"

I then asked,

"What's yours?"

"Christina."

"Chris."

"What the hell?"

"I'm thinking the same thing."

It started to add up, the same colors, similar names, the same circumstances. Yes, it did add up. She seemed to be a female version of myself

"I think you're me."

"I thing you're me too."

"How is that possible?"

"How should I know?"

Yep, she was me all right. I had no idea how this was possible, and since I didn't, she didn't this meant that we'd have to find someone that did, so I voiced that thought.

"We need to find someone that knows what's going on."

"How're we going to do that if we're in the middle of what I'm going to assume is the Everfree Forest?"

"Easy, we just find a way out!"

"Then lead on, oh wise one."

I could tell that she might just get on my nerves the smallest bit...

We then took off at a steady pace through the forest, passing myriad colors of trees and shrubs, occasionally hearing the screech or howl of some unknown creature. To my satisfaction, my counter part was thoroughly spooked. Serves her right for mocking me.

Eventually we came to a path, where I asked

"Which way do you want to go?"

"Um, I'm not sure, why don't you try flying up above the trees to look which way a town might be?"

"Great idea, if only I knew how to use these wings."

She looked at me in confusion, then realization.

"Then let's get you started learning!"

With that, she grabbed a wing and pulled it out. To her displeasure it snapped right back to my side with a *fluff*

"Maybe we could try something reflexive?"

"Like what?"

She looked around, eying the scenery, then her eyes grew wide and she got very excited.

"Come on, climb that tree!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay!"

As I got up to the tree I tried to grab a branch, but no longer having hands, I could not. Thus, I had to improvise.

After about ten minutes I was just about thirty feet above the ground (I climb slow, okay?). Once I had gotten situated, I asked,

"What now?"

To which she replied with a smirk,

"Hold on!"

She then proceeded to easily climb the tree in less than a minute (I don't know how). She came up next to me and said,

"Ready?"

Bewilderedly, I asked,

"What for?"

"For this!"

And with that she pushed me out of the tree.

As I fell I thought about how much I was going to miss, dying having only just entered Equestria, and how much I would have loved to see ponyville.

And as the ground sped toward me, I could feel a tingle in some place around my side, which then became something of an arm, which I then realized was my wings. About ten feet from the ground I felt them begin to move up and down, and I realized that I was slowing. I fought to will them in to obedience and flapped harder and harder, slowly gaining control (at least it seemed slow), only once I had full awareness and possession of them did I hit the ground with a nice, full, robust *THUD*

I heard her climbing down behind me, exclaiming,

"Yes! It worked!"

Sure enough, I could still feel the blood flow in my wings, and I started to stretch them out a bit, getting a better feel for them, testing all of their contortionary limitations, finding which angles I could fold or stretch them at, and getting the fine details of the intricate muscle fibers ingrained in to my memory and moving each and every feather. Oh, yes, I could get used to this!

"It sure did, look!"

I started flapping my wings and I could feel the force of the air beneath them slowly lifting me up, and once I had reached about ten feet in the air I looked down (while still flapping) and called out to Christina,

"This is amazing!"

"Yeah it is! Now get up there and look for a town!"

"Yeah! I'll get right on that!"

I was still learning, and it took me a while to learn how to get up to speed, but once I did I was going, and I mean I was really going. The only problem was maneuvering my way through the canopy to get a view, and of course I smacked in to a few branches on the way up, but I figured I was doing pretty good for my first flight, right?

I broke through the canopy to a cacophony of chirping birds and blinding sun light, man was it dark down there! I took a moment to just float and relax there, taking the view in. There were distant mountains, a wonderful variety of clouds, and to my pleasure, a small town in the distance, with a cottage on its outskirts and what looked like an apple orchard to another side. It was Ponyville of all places! My heart leapt (leaped?) when I saw it and I did a nice spin while in the air, resisting the urge to shoot off towards the town. I decided to mark the place where I had exited the canopy and to do a few exercises before flying back down.

I started to flap my wings and gained a little speed, then made a sharp turn to the left followed by an aileron roll, pulled to a complete stop and started to fly backwards, at a much slower speed. I then started forward again and shot up through the clouds and pulled another series of turns just working on agility. Yes, I figure now would be a good time to go back down to my second self and report my findings, I looked back toward the town and took note of the direction and distance, then flew back down to the spot I had exited the forest, winding my way back to Christina, and alighting with a flourish (I like style).

"Ponyville is only about a half mile east!"

When she heard this she started bouncing up and down, clearly very giddy.

"Oh really? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

I then took off running east on the path, and as my ears told me, so did my counterpart. We kept this pace up for quite a while, taking all the twists and turns in the path at speed, ignoring all of the calls of the creatures of the forest, in the sheer excitement of the thought of seeing familiar faces from the show. We kept our speed until the path exited the forest and there, no more than three hundred meters away was Ponyville!

It suddenly dawned on me, neither of us had appropriate pony names! This could be a problem in the event that either of us was asked about ourselves. We would have to come up with appropriate names and stories of our origin in Equestria. I then stopped and turned to my second half.

"We need names and stories of how we got here and where we are from."

Her eyes lit up, and I could tell she was thinking.

"Well, I had been thinking of that, and I noticed that our color patterns and tones reminded me of something wind related, so I was thinking something like Zephyrius for you, and Zephyria for myself?"

"Wow, that actually doesn't sound too bad, um, I guess we could say that we were born and raised in Canterlot in one of the smaller suburbs?"

"Sure, why not? Well, I guess that's it then right?"

She shook her head with ill hidden enthusiasm

"Yeah, I guess so!"

"Well, let's get going!"

And with that, we started our trot in to Ponyville.

Well, there it is, I hope that anyone reading it is starting to enjoy it! If you feel like it, just tell me anything that I could improve on!

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3: Ponyville

Chapter 3: Ponyville

As Zephyria and I began our trot into Ponyville we began to notice a few odd looks from some of the ponies in town. I wasn't exactly sure what the looks were for, but I assumed that it was because we had never been seen in the town before. When I saw a pony that I recognized as Cloudchaser from the show giving us one of these looks I decided to ask her why everypony was looking at us so strangely.

I told Zephyria that I was going to ask Cloudchaser about the weird looks. She agreed it would be a good idea to see what all the fuss was about. She then said that she was going to go talk to Lyra, and we made an agreement to report back with each other as soon as we were done. With that, I turned my attention back to Cloudchaser. When I finally came up close to her she jumped--having not been paying direct attention to me she must have been startled.

"Hey, what's with all the weird looks from everypony?"

An odd expression came over her, it seemed to be one of mixed feelings. If I had to guess it would have been curiosity and mild confusion

"Hehe, um... Hi. Um, well you and your friend are both the exact same colors and stuff, plus uh, neither of you have a cutie mark." she said.

All of these things made perfect sense, but I figured I'd question a bit further due to not knowing what the big deal was about matching colors.

"Well, what about our colors, what's so odd about that?" I asked, perplexed.

She blinked a couple of times, obviously trying to formulate some sort of answer, whose design to which I was clueless.

"Um, I mean, it's kind of uncommon. Well, we did have a couple of cheap salesponies come to town with some weird machine before, but they were stallions that were twins. And it's really odd that a pony of your age would not have their cutie mark either. I mean, it's almost unheard of!"

This made even more sense. Most ponies had their cutie marks before they were even out of school, and we were well past that age, so of course it would attract plenty of attention. My mind began to wonder to what my special talent might be, and for that matter, the talent of whom I would now likely refer to as my sister. As I was musing I had not realized that I was looking at Cloudchaser with an imaginative expression on my face, which she seemed to return with a smile that could show a bit of interest.

"Well, uh, my um--sister and I uh, haven't exactly found our talents, you know, we just haven't figured it out yet!"

I gave her a smile which I believe could only be described as cheesy in an attempt to sell my story. Clearly exemplifying the pony race's trust in the honesty of others, she did!

"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense! So, where are you and your sister from?" she asked.

As I hid my relief I tried to remember where we had decided to say we were from, and I must have started to space out again because I saw that same weird smile coming over her face.

"Um, uh, we are from Canterlot, we're here on a vacation, you know, from the life of the big city," I explained.

Another look came over her face, betraying her complete amazement that a pony from Canterlot would come down just to visit Ponyville.

"Oh, wow! So what made you two want to visit Ponyville?" she asked with an inquisitive turn of her head.

By now I had been able to anticipate such a question, to which I quickly replied;

"Oh, you know, Canterlot can get a little bit old. We just wanted to see what life was like in a small town like this!"

"Wow, so how do you like the town?" she asked, while kicking the ground with her hoof.

"Well, I haven't been in town for more than ten minutes, so I don't really know!" I stated rather bluntly.

At this point I gave her a grin so as not to sound sarcastic, which she seemed to take pretty well as she then asked if I'd like her to give me a sort of tour of the town.

Well, you know, I figured I might as well take the leisure of a town tour before I really start my quest for answers. Plus I'm sure that my 'sister' would find something to do with Lyra. Thus I agreed to go for said tour, which made Cloudchaser start bouncing excitedly. I then made sure to tell Zephyria about this, and of course asked for Cloudchaser to wait a moment.

"Hey, I'm going to go tell my sister that I'm going on this tour with you, give me a sec okay?"

"Yeah, sure! Take your time!" she vocalized excitedly.

I then turned and walked back to Zephyria, where I found her chatting rather noisily with Lyra and the newcomer Bon Bon. As I walked up I could hear them talking about where she and I were from, amongst other things. To my relief my counter-part remembered our discussion and told them that we were from Canterlot. Luckily she had the same idea to say that we were on vacation down here from the city. I guess I shouldn't be surprised right? I mean, we are the same person.

"Hey, Zephyria! I'm going to go on a little tour of the town with Cloudchaser over there, you can find something to do, right?" I said, raising my voice so she could hear over the clamor of the town.

"Oh, yes! I sure can, Lyra and Bon Bon were just talking about going to the spa; Lyra even told me that I could stay with her while we're here!" she said while bouncing up and down.

She then gave me a wink which neither Lyra nor Bon Bon could see. I was beginning to think that the moral toll of keeping our secret would surely wear either myself or I down eventually, I could already feel slight pangs of guilt from lying to theses innocent ponies. I then realized that we would need to think of a place to meet once we were done with our fun in the town.

"Hey, let's meet up at Sugarcube Corner once we are done, sound good?" I asked.

"Yeah, sounds great!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"All righty, see you later!"

As I started back to Cloudchaser I could see that she talking to Flitter. They were giggling quite a bit, and when they noticed that I was walking back over to them, Flitter shot off toward Sugarcube Corner. I stopped for a moment confused, then continued toward my tour guide.

"What was that all about?"

"Oh! Um, nothing! I was just talking to Flitter about something, it isn't important!" She said rather hurriedly.

She then gave me a wide grin in an attempt to fool me (which it of course didn't), but I decided to pay the event no attention. I mean, it couldn't be too important, right?

"Okay... So, how about that tour?" I asked, trying not to sound too excited.

"Oh, Yeah! I almost forgot, hehe! Okay, let's get started!" she exclaimed.

She then took off and flew in to the air about twenty feet up or so, and I soon followed suit, delighted that this was going to be an aerial tour and that I would get to use my wings yet again.

As I flew up toward Cloudchaser I could see her giggling again. This was getting a little funny, but oh well, right?

Once I got up to her she started off at a leisurely pace, pointing out different places in Ponyville, some of which I was already familiar with, and others that I was not so aware of.

"And there's Sugarcube Corner. That's the place where all the sweets, cakes, and all that sort of good stuff are made. Over there is the library. A purple unicorn and her pet dragon live there."

When I heard her call Spike Twilight's pet, I just about fell out of the sky. That was rather funny.

She then pointed to Carousel Boutique.

"Over there is Carousel Boutique, it's the premier fashion shop of Ponyville. Then we have the Day Spa. I think I saw your sister going over there, right?" she asked nonchalantly.

I thought for a moment. She had, hadn't she?

"Yes, I think she did. She, and two other mares went together." I said

"Oh, is she in for a treat! Aloe and Lotus are absolutely wonderful!" she replied

Hmm... She sounded pretty enthusiastic, I might want to go by there some time.

I then noticed what could only be the marketplace, I pointed it out and asked what it was.

"Oh, that's the marketplace! You know, where ponies go to buy and sell their goods," she said this with a sort of tone that screamed 'Isn't it obvious?'

"Ah, of course."

We then flew by the book shop, joke shop, jewelry store, and costume shop. With each one she gave a brief description. At the mention of the jewelry store she gave off a sort of *squee*.

Dear lord, even here the girls freak over jewelry.

As we passed over one of the local cafes I looked down in longing. I hadn't eaten since that party, and I had no clue how long ago it was. Apparently Cloudchaser noticed my glance toward the cafe, because she then asked if I wanted to go down for a bite, to which I gave a vigorous nod. She gave me a little smile and we descended to the cafe, alighting near the door. When we walked in we could see that the place wasn't seeing much business at the moment, thus we trotted over to the hostess and asked for a table for two.

Rather cheerily the hostess prompted us to follow her to an outdoor table. It was nice and sunny outside, courtesy of the local weather patrol. Perfect eating weather.

Once we were seated, the hostess gave us our menus and notified us that our waiter would be with us shortly. I skimmed through all of the options. Being of human origin I could not see anything on the menu that was automatically appetizing. I chose to just ask Cloudchaser what was good instead of trying to pick between all sorts of dishes that I figured would just taste like grass.

"So, what does this place have that's good?"

"Well, the tulip and celery stew is pretty good. I personally prefer the timothy and sunflower sandwich with honeycrisp apple rings," she replied.

Well, it was still grass. But hey, it had a honeycrisp with it! I loved those back home!

"Eh, yeah! Sounds good to me!" I replied with mixed feelings.

During our wait for our waiter a strange look of embarrassment came over Cloudchaser's face. I couldn't help but question as to why.

"What's with that weird look?" I asked inquisitively.

"Oh, I just realized that we are having lunch and we don't even know each others names." She said as she started to play with her hair.

Holy crap. I forgot all about mentioning my name.

I felt tremendously bad for not even asking her about her name. I guess that's what happens when you already know someones name.

"Oh wow! I'm so sorry! I'm Zephyrius. May I ask your name?" I said rather hurriedly.

"My name is Cloudchaser. Pleased to meet you," she stuck out her hoof for a hoofshake.

I laughed as we shook hooves in a mockery of formality.

Upon the sound of *Ahem*--both Cloudchaser and I looked up to see our newly arrived waiter, who had a messy red mane and a deep orange coat. He then asked for our order whilst giving me a wink.

Before I could say anything, Cloudchaser told the waiter, "We'll have two timothy and sunflower sandwiches with honeycrisp rings, please."

"A fine choice, it will be out shortly," the waiter stated as he hurried away.

Since I had been thus left alone with Cloudchaser—I decided to pursue her earlier talk with Flitter.

"So, come on. Tell me what you and Flitter were giggling about earlier," I asked.

"Oh. It's not important right now. You'll see later, I promise!" she stated rather enthusiastically.

"Well, Okay. If you're so sure, I won't push it any farther," I said doubtfully.

Our conversation then turned to the weather and other small talk, since the question about her and Flitter had been shut down. While we talked my mind started to wonder to my life back home and all of the friends and family that I might not see again. It saddened me to think of what my parents would think when I didn't return their calls, as well as what my co-workers would say when I didn't show up to our office. I realized that I would sorely miss my job. I had been an electrical engineer and worked with an audio company designing amplifiers and speakers. It was a fun job, but it wasn't what I truly loved. No, what I had really loved was the benefits from a winter job I had one year at a lodge up in the mountains. After a season of solid hard labor; shoveling snow and de-icing the roads for the entire winter, the lodge manager had given us tickets for skydiving at a local jump school. The feeling of free-falling had been the most exhilarating sensation I had ever experienced. The next best thing of course, was flying as a pegasus here in Equestria.

"Oh, our food is here!" said Cloudchaser, putting a halt to my reminiscing.

As our waiter walked up I could smell the food, which (to my surprise) actually smelled good! The waiter then placed our food on the table.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

This time I was ready to answer before Cloudchaser.

"Not at the moment, thank you though," I said

"Enjoy!" he said as he walked away

Cloudchaser then began to eat without hesitation, having already placed her napkin in her lap. I sat there looking at my sandwich for a few seconds, pondering whether or not it would be any good. Well, there's only one way to find out.

As I bit into my timothy and sunflower sandwich I was amazed. It tasted like grass, but suddenly grass was good! It was even comparable in palate-pleasure to a nice rib eye back home. My amazement must have been apparent because it had attracted Cloudchaser's attention.

"Wow, you act like you've never had timothy hay before," she said inquisitively.

"Ah, yes. It's just not the food I am used to, but I do like it!" I quickly said.

"Oh, well that's good! What are you used to eating?" she asked

Don't say steak. Don't say steak. Well, I did eat spinach when I was back on earth.

"Well, back home I normally had spinach around, as well as the occasional rose petal salad. My sister and I's diet also consisted of a lot of fruit," I said rather hesitantly.

"That sounds like a pretty good lifestyle. Why would you ever leave it?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Well, as I said earlier, we needed a vacation. Honestly, it happened quite unexpectedly," I explained.

I thought of how unexpected my departure from home truly was. It hit me yet again that I was very far from home. I couldn't help but think that I would be missed--I would certainly miss my family.

"What do you mean?" she further asked.

"What I mean is that it was like any other day. Then something hit us and we just had to go," I stated evasively.

"Oh. What was it that hit you?" she questioned.

In all honesty, I had no clue.

"We really don't know. It was rather sudden," I said as I finished my sandwich.

"Oh," she said, "well, when do you return home?"

"Ha. I have no clue!" I said as I bit into an apple ring.

"Well, that's okay! So where are you and your sister staying while you are here?" she asked, finishing her sandwich as well.

I then thought back to Christina saying that Lyra had invited her to stay with her for the time we were here. I had no idea where I was going to stay. I figured that I might just get a hotel room until we find out how exactly we got here.

"Zephyria is staying with one of the ponies she went to the spa with. I think her name was Lyra," I said.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I think I'll find a hotel room or something like that by tonight," I said as I ate another apple ring.

"Are you sure? Flitter and I have a couch you could use," Cloudchaser stated while finishing off her own apple rings.

I was quite surprised to hear the offer, nonetheless I wouldn't turn down a good couch. I could stay there while they permitted and hopefully be able to find out how Zephyria and I got here. There was also the possibility of finding a job and getting my own place in the event that I wasn't able to track down such information.

"That'd be great! Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" I asked. I didn't want to bother them with such a request.

"It would be no problem at all. Would you be able to help with the house payment though?" she asked.

Well, that was a fair enough deal. That way it wouldn't be so tasking on them to have me stay.

"Of course I could help. It would only be fair," I said as I finished my apples.

Soon enough, our waiter came by and told us that we could go. Both Cloudchaser and I were clearly confused.

"What about the check?" I asked.

"You're new in town, right?" he inquired, pointing at me.

"Yes, I am, why do you ask?" I asked, still confused.

"New ponies in town eat free for their first meal here. It is our policy, and we take great pride in it!" He exclaimed.

The waiter then started moving us toward the door.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I was never one to ask for a free meal.

"Yes! Now hurry, don't you have somewhere to be?" he asked. He then pushed us out the door.

As the pony was closing the door I could see Cloudchaser glaring at him. It looked as if he had slipped up somehow.

"What was that about?" I asked, concerned about their intentions.

"Nothing, he just says that to all new ponies," she said quickly.

"Well, okay. So what's next?" I asked, eager to move on.

She stopped for a moment, then looked up at the sun. She pondered something unbeknownst to me for a few seconds.

"Why don't we go to Sugarcube Corner? Aren't you meeting Zephyria there anyway?" she then said.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" I exclaimed, suddenly aware that I might be late.

We then took off for Sugarcube Corner, making pretty good time. As we flew over the town I began to notice a general theme amongst the ponies' movements. Most seemed to be moving toward the confection shop we were headed for.

As Cloudchaser and I landed in front of the shop I could hear music coming from inside. Is there a party going on?

Next thing I knew, I was being hit by a pink blur. As I went to the ground I realized something. I thought back to the first episode of 'Friendship is Magic', only then did I figure out what was going on. Zephyria and I were new to the town, and Pinkie Pie always throws parties for ponies that are new. This must have been what everyone was acting so sketchy about.

"Hi, you're new here! We just love new ponies! That's why I threw you a party!" Pinkie Pie yelled in to my face.

I then jumped up, startled beyond belief. Then I started to laugh, realizing what had just happened. As I laughed I could hear Pinkie Pie laughing as well, likely just for the sake of laughing.

"Hey, let's go in," Cloudchaser said, "it's your party!"

"Yeah, let's go in!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Okay, sure!" I said excitedly

We then walked into Sugarcube Corner, and as the door opened I could see a multitude of colors and many laughing ponies. I was then directed by Pinkie Pie to the punch bowl and cake, and both looked amazing! As I moved toward the punch I could tell that Cloudchaser was following me. I decided to ask about her and Flitter earlier yet again.

"Now can you tell me what you and Flitter were talking about earlier?" I inquired.

"Wait, you still don't get it? This party is what we were talking about, you goofball!" she said playfully.

"That's what I thought," I said, "you were just trying to keep it a secret, huh?"

"Um, yes! Why else wouldn't I tell you?" Cloudchaser then said.

"I don't know, maybe you were talking about my amazing looks!" I jested

We both laughed, having reached the punch bowl. I then attempted to pour some punch, but as I was not coordinated enough to do so, I ended up spilling some.

"Why don't you let me do it?" Cloudchaser said. She then poured two cups of punch by using her wings.

I've got to learn how to do that!

As Cloudchaser passed me my punch a loud techno song came over the speakers. I looked around the building to find Vinyl Scratch at a DJ booth working her magic on her system. It was so loud that I could feel the pulse and reverb of the bass speakers in the room. Those are some nice speakers. I wonder if I could get a job with the company that makes them?

While the song continued I told Cloudchaser that I was going to go look for Zephyria.

"Okay, I'll be over by the DJ booth when you find her," she said while sauntering off.

I began my search looking from the DJ booth to the back kitchen. As I scanned the crowd I could hear the song intensify, encouraging the ponies to dance even harder. This is going to be impossible. Just then I heard a scream in my ear;

"HI!"

I was so scared by this that I jumped forward into another stallion who apparently did not like being pushed while dancing.

"Hey, watch it man!" His speech a little slurred. He then pushed me back toward the table that held the punch.

As I flew backward I thought; Did he just say man?

Wait, I know that voice!

Just then then the back of my head hit the table, lighting up the nerve endings in my cranium. As I fell my vision started to go black, only able to think one thing.

Jake?

Chapter 4: Falling

Chapter 4: Falling

Falling.

I was falling.

I looked about me to see an endless white void. The only thing that told me I was falling was the immense force I could feel from the air resistance working against me. I felt nothing but a continuous wind buffeting against my entirety. As I fell I made an attempt to open my wings, but I as far as I could tell there was no movement. No matter how much energy I poured into the fibers of my muscles, the appendages would just not comply. I then tried to contort my neck about in order to see if I could grab my wings using my snout and pull them open. Only once I had made the effort to turn my head past my shoulder did I realize that my wings were no longer in place. In fact, I no longer had my light blue fur, nor was I even equine.

I was human again.

I flexed my fingers on my left hand then my right. Yes, I was human. I brought my hands to my face, once more feeling the familiar features of humanity. In awe I looked down at my body to find that I was wearing the same jeans and t-shirt that I had been wearing the night of the incident with the dark cloud in the alleyway--everything down to my socks and contact lenses were present.

This must be a dream.

Suddenly, the expanse began to darken around me, fading from a pristine white to a deep blue tone. Slowly I found that the wind resistance was lessening and eventually stopped entirely. The void seemed to close in upon me and I began to notice millions of small pinpricks of light penetrating the dark abyss and inn only a few seconds the lights grew to the intensity of stars on a clear summer night.

By now I could easily mark my descent by the stars around me and just as easily tell which stars were closest by the rate at which I passed them. At this point I began to realize the true beauty of what surrounded me and I marveled at what wonders I had once taken for granted--there truly was nothing like it.

Just as soon as I began to appreciate the beauty of what I now beheld did I start to hear a faint pinging noise. It seemed to be coming from all around me, and I could see the stars begin to move past me a little faster. I decided to try and orient myself in the direction I appeared to be traveling just so I could get a better sense of direction, even if it didn't matter. I started to rotate one of my my arms outward to get a higher moment of inertia, then proceeded to swing it above my head. This produced a rotation letting my head and feet effectively pivot around my abdominal cavity, thus making me feel as if I were looking 'down'. Once I had reached the intended point I brought my arm back out to my side and slowly lowered it down to clasp with my other behind my back. I was now facing the direction the stars seemed to be coming from.

With my new orientation I noticed that the pinging had risen in volume and had ceased to sound from behind me. The origin of the sound seemed to be moving to a point in front of me and the further it moved toward the front the louder it became. Slowly the time between the pings began to lessen, and the pinging became a sort of sound like that of a violin. I could hear it moving back and forth between different frequencies, all approaching a higher pitch; it was now as if the higher the pitch got the faster I would move. The sound seemed to be much getting higher now, steeply ascending to a crescendo.

When the ominous sound reached its fever pitch I began to feel something within me. It was as if my entire body just relaxed at once then tensed just as suddenly. I could feel my skin begin to loosen up somehow, it was a truly indescribable sensation. Then slowly I began to see my own hair falling from my arms, floating off into the abyss. In only a minute it seemed as if half of the hair on my arms had fallen off, and I soon began to feel my fingernails changing. While hurtling through this abyss, fever pitch music in my ear, I began to feel the nails on my right hand with the opposing hand, to find that the nails were softening quite rapidly.

Now I was truly concerned. What's happening to me? As my nails continued to soften I could feel the hair on top of my head begin to fall out in the same fashion as the hair on my arms. I could now see that only a very miniscule amount of my arm-hair was still in place, and I noticed that the hair on my legs and other places had begun to dwindle as well.

It was a very odd feeling, having my hair just fall out. It almost tickled, but at the same time I felt as if there was a great sickness coming over me. While I contemplated this I could see the fibers of my shirt and jeans unraveling, as if the material was just coming apart on its own. My body hair was almost completely gone by this point, and I could feel that the hair on my head had gone from a once glorious thickness down to the sparsity of grass in a savanna. As time ticked by I could feel my hair growing thinner and thinner, until I was certain that someone viewing me from the top could easily see themselves reflected on my scalp.

By the time all of the hair on my body and head were gone I was able to feel the last of my clothes unraveling and falling into the abyss. The only hair left on me was my eyebrows, which too had begun to disappear. As I looked at my nails again I could see that they were detaching themselves from the ends of my fingers, which was surprisingly painless.

As if in response to the painlessness of my nails, my eyes started to burn like the ninth level of hell.

Damn contacts!

My contact lenses were beginning to dissolve in my eyes, causing a massive well of tears to fill them. The pain was unbearable, and I began to cry, not out of defeat, but out of irritation, as anyone who wears contacts could guess. The burning sensation seemed to subside a bit and there was a break in my tears just so I could see the last of my nails flying off into the void. I began to rub my eyes in an attempt to remove any particles that were still present, and just as the pain appeared to be leaving I felt a new pain that was beyond unimaginable.

All at once it was as if the bones in my feet began to move together, as did those in my hands. I could feel the curvature of my spine changing and my joints were beginning to turn in place. My skull began to grow and distend, my eye sockets widening immensely. As these skeletal changes were starting I could feel a great force pushing from under my skin. An ice blue fur began to emerge from my body, and I felt an even more rapid growth from my rear and on top of my head. The pain continued as my arms began to lengthen and my joints popped in to new positions. The bones in my feet were beginning to round and I could feel with great displeasure the skin pulling back from the bottom of what I recognized to be becoming a hoof.

I'm becoming a pony.

What had once been a harmonic bliss was now to me, a chaotic symphony of terror. The pitch of the once beautiful noise was now the essence of pain, the tempo now the destruction of my sanity. My feet and hands had by now become hooves, and I could tell (with great anguish) that I was sprouting a tail.

My eye sockets were now the size of baseballs, my eyes growing to accompany them. The hair continued to grow all over my body, sending waves of fire throughout me. I could feel my vertebrae multiplying, and lengthening, to a point at which my neck was at a terrible angle. Then at once I felt my main joints connecting my arms and legs to my body begin to shift. They were moving up and down the vertebrae as if they were tracks, and I felt a massive wave of pain wash over me as they seemed to claw their way along.

By now I seemed to have the general shape of a pony, with my once bipedal frame now being quadrupedal, and the fur on my body was nearing its end in growth. The pain was ebbing at least.

Wrong.

I began to feel yet another sting in my eyes as some unknown change was wrought upon them. Then there was a massive *crack* as my skull slipped down upon my neck. A new wave of pain poured from my groin area as that too began to change. Still feeling a pushing on my head and rear, I could only assume my mane and tail were still growing at an alarming rate. I tried to scream, but no noise would come forth.

Why can't I black out?

Normally this level of pain would cause anyone or anypony for that matter to black out and likely go in to shock, but I couldn't for some vile reason. I could do nothing but allow it to go on, accompanied by the shrill sound of the void.

Wait, what about the wings I had before?

As if on cue, there was a massive ache from behind my shoulders as I felt a new growth appear on my body. Bones were arising from my vertebrae and muscle seemed to migrate from my back into the new appendages. I felt the joints in my new wings begin to split, making room for more bone, and muscle growth. The muscle fibers and bones seemed to settle down in place, the wings began to flap a bit on their own as if to say 'You're about done.'

But I knew that it was a lie. I braced myself for what could only be described as razors pushing through the skin on my wings as the new feathers began to sprout. By this time the pain in my eyes had ceased and my mane and tail had stopped growing. I began to feel my teeth moving around in my jaw, some disappearing, others coming in to take their place. I felt my nose changing as well, and it was painless. Thankfully.

The only pain now was from the feathers pushing through the skin on my wings, and the final rearrangement and lengthening of my groin region.

This isn't even right.

Finally the pain was ending, the feathers done growing, and the last remnants of ache fading from my nether regions.

Is it over?

I felt nothing else happening to my body, and was thankful that my anguish was at an end. Another change occurred, this time it was welcome. The relentless noise from the abyss began to wind down and subside. There seemed to finally be a little peace in the void.

Haha, nope.

At once I began to hear a terrible tearing sound as I beheld a massive rent in the once beautiful void beginning to form. It was like the sound of a bed-sheet tearing, and it was loud enough to break my eardrums had it been possible in this realm. As I flew on toward the tear I could see that through it there was a blue sky and a lush forest. The tearing sound ceased and I could feel myself rocketing toward the great rent, feeling a mixture of wonder and fear. I took another look at my surroundings, hoping that I would never forget the beauty of it, and hoping I could forget what happened inside it.

As I grew nearer and nearer to the massive hole in space I could begin to see something of a reflection of myself in the opening. I soon found out what that reflection was as I passed through the rent, all traces of the harmonic noises vanishing, and a final sense of weight returning. I collided with what seemed to be a copy of myself, but I soon realized was my counterpart Zephyria. We soon became a tangle of hooves and appendages as we both emerged from separate voids that seemed to be facing each other, yet somehow emerging in the same direction.

We fell and fell from a large height down toward what could only be the Everfree Forest. At the same time we both seemed to realize that we could once again scream, thus we did. It was a pleasure to my ears just to hear my own voice again, even though we were plummeting to our doom, I being unable to fly due to my wings being tangled with Zephyria's legs. We fell, and fell, and fell, until we were no more than fifty feet from the forest floor. We seemed to slow immensely at this point, but still kept a considerable velocity.

As we struck the floor I felt an immense cushioning force under us, as if we were being protected by something, but the force didn't have enough effect to keep us from sustaining minor injuries. Feeling my head hit the ground I could finally feel the pleasure of slumber washing over me.

Just before I slipped from conciousness, I saw a pool of water a few feet from where Zephyria and I lay.