"You're... what?"

I sigh tiredly. "You heard what I said. I'm not Princess Celestia. I'm not the one ruling this place. And I am certainly not someone who knows how to raise a damn star in the sky."

Lyra's eyes widen, and she takes a tentative step back. "Wha— bu— but you are her! You look and sound exactly like her!"

Not like I had a choice. I roll my eyes and throw my forelegs up in frustration. "Oh really? I haven't noticed!"

Her ears splay back as she winces. "Sorry... are you not supposed to look like..." She gestures up and down my body with her eyes. "...this?"

"No!" I glare at her with slight annoyance. "And why do you sound surprised all of a sudden? You were acting like you already figured it all out earlier!"

"I— what, no!" Lyra backs up a little more. "I mean, I guessed something was wrong, but I just thought Nightmare Moon was back for some reason and messed with your mind to make you less... regal."

I let out a loud groan of exasperation. "What kind of name is that?! Who the hell is Nightmare Moon?!"

Lyra freezes and stares at me for a while, her expression gradually softening. "You ... really aren't Princess Celestia?"

Slowly, I climb to my hooves and glance around. There's a small mirror hanging in the hallway beside the front door, like the kind people use to check themselves before heading out. I trot over to it and stare into Celestia's eyes.

"No." I tilt my head around, watching the pony in the mirror match my every movement. "This isn't my face. This isn't my body. And this definitely isn't my voice!"

My legs tremble weakly, and I collapse to the floor on my rump. My breathing begins to quicken, my heart hammering against my chest all over again. "I'm supposed to be in Calculus right now, my first class in my first year of college. Or... probably English. I don't know what time it's supposed to be back home." My vision begins to darken around the edges. "How am I supposed to get back? Can I even get back at all? I don't know what I'm doing here, I don't want to be here, I thought this was a dream, but I haven't woken up yet. Am I even alive anymore? Maybe I somehow died in my sleep and got reincarnated here like one of those weird iseka—"

"Hey!"

I gasp and whip my head to the left, where Lyra is standing close to me with her hoof reaching for me. She flinches slightly from my movement, but closes the distance and rests her hoof gently against my back. The edges of her hoof are hard, but I feel a bit of warmth in the center, where a palm might be.

"Just, uh, slow down, deep breaths..." Her voice lowers to just above a whisper, her hoof swirling in soothing circles against my back. "You'll be alright..."

I close my eyes and let my head hang. "Thanks..." I feel tears starting to well in my eyes, but I squeeze them shut in a desperate attempt to keep them from falling. I lift a hoof and very carefully wipe what little moisture now sticks to the fur on my face. "Sorry, I just— I really have no idea what's going on, what is this place? And why are there..." I stare at her briefly. "...talking ponies everywhere?"

Lyra tilted her head. "That's what confuses you? I'd be more worried if I was surrounded by ponies that couldn't talk at all."

What. I stare blankly through her before my mind registers reality. "Ah yeah, right, I guess ponies are the, uh, dominant species around here..."

"What do you—" Lyra backs off and sits opposite from me, staring at me with intrigue. "I don't get it, you're saying that like we're not supposed to be? And wait, hold up." She pauses. "Did you say earlier you're supposed to be in college? Your first year of it??"

My eyes shoot wide open. Oohhh, I did say that, didn't I. I didn't mean to say all that yet, oh great, how am I supposed to explain this? I sigh. "Yep. College freshman. Actually, I'm barely even a freshman yet. I was supposed to have my first class in college this morning, but instead, nope. I randomly wake up here as this white princess horse who apparently everyone looks up to as the ruler of the country. Or pony, whatever, I don't even know anymore." My head slumps forward. "I just want to go home already..."

Lyra tilts her head in confusion. "You're supposed to be in college right now?"

I look up at her and nod tiredly.

"College, as in, the one usually right after high school?"

I nod again.

Her brow furrows in thought. "But, I graduated from your— I mean, Celestia's school a few years ago. At least, just the general education bits, I was never good enough with magic to go after a formal degree in it, unlike Twilight."

You can get a degree... in magic here? Wow.

"Anyways, uh, if I went through with my degree, I'd probably already be done by now, or at least almost done." She looks at me a little closer. "And you're supposed to be... in your first year?"

I feel a small bead of sweat slide comically down the side of my face as I nod once again.

"How old are you supposed to be?"

"Um... eighteen?"

"WHAT?!"

I recoil at the outburst, my ears instinctively splaying back to protect my precious hearing. "Ow..." Wowie, these big ass ears really pick up way more sound than I'm used to.

"Sorry!" Lyra winces at my reaction. "Sorry, I, uh, just wasn't expecting... well, I don't know what I was even expecting, but... eighteen?!"

"Yeaaaaaah. I'm eighteen. And a half! I'm supposed to turn nineteen in a few months." I pause, then mentally slap myself. Wow, VERY useful fun fact, Sam, that extra half absolutely clears everything up.

"Wow, so you're... younger than me?"

I blink and glance down at my still unfamiliar form. "How old am I supposed to be?"

"I... don't know exactly, actually." Lyra's brow furrows in thought. "I do know you're supposed to be at least a thousand years old."

What. "The fuck?"

"Huh?"

I shake my head. "Oh um, nothing, sorry, you said a thousand years?"

Lyra nodded.

I gulp nervously. "Are you... sure that's not like, some sort of exaggeration or just a saying or—"

"Nope." Lyra shakes her head. "It's in our history books, we even learn about your age as a filly." She freezes. "I mean, Celestia's age. Ugh, this is confusing me, who are you if you're not Princess Celestia?"

Whatever is going on here, this would be groundbreaking news back on Earth. I don't know how much I should really be saying to this... random civilian pony. I look into Lyra's wide, curious eyes. She's nice though. Honestly this is the first time I've been able to talk to someone normally since showing up here. And what if... what if Luna sends guards to capture me, and they lock me away and I die or something? Nobody would know I was ever even here. I sigh. It can't hurt, right?

"My name is Sam, and I'm a human. Or, I'm supposed to be one, not a pony."

Lyra blinks. "You're a what?"

I deadpan. "A... human?"

"Yeah, that." She tilts her head. "What's a... 'you-min'?"

"'Human'." I correct her pronunciation. "Uh..." Shit, different planet or whatever, they've probably never even heard of the word. "Humans, yes. Different species, we stand on two legs. Our, uh, upper arms have hands instead of hooves. Oh, and feet on our... back legs. And no horns or wings either."

Her eyes widen a little. "Woah... that sounds a bit like a Minotaur, but without the hooves on the back legs. Are you from outside of Equestria?"

"Equestria." I repeat. That's the only location name I've heard all day. "Yeah, uh, is that... the name of this planet?"

"Oh no, Equestria is the name of our nation. Equus is the planet."

"Oh. Yes, right." I nod slowly. Oooh boy, here comes the sucker punch. I hold in my breath for a while before slowly releasing it. "I guess that means I'm... from outside Equus then."

Lyra freezes. She stares at me in silence, not even blinking for what feels like a whole minute. "...outside of Equus?"

"Yep."

"...the planet."

"Uhuh."

Lyra's mouth opened, held still, then closed again. "So... you're from another planet."

Aaaaand there it is. "Yep. At least, I think. No, I'm pretty sure. I used to stare at the sky all the time when I was little, I'd even borrow books from the library nearby so I could memorize different constellations." I swallow nervously, already sensing my breathing and heart rate quickening, the words coming out faster and faster. "I can't recognize a single pattern up there, that's a completely different sky from the one I know. So yes, that, plus the fact that everyone around me is a talking pony, I am very sure I'm on the wrong planet!"

I inhale deeply, realizing I had been starting to gasp for breath the entire time. I lift a foreleg and carefully press it firmly against my forehead, making sure to avoid the base of my horn. I slow my breathing and focus on the wood planks beneath me, trailing my eyes across the many lines that patterned the floor as I feel my racing heart gradually calm. Eventually, I feel my body relax enough that I can lower my limbs back down to the floor.

After several moments of silence, I slowly bring my eyes back up to Lyra, who has been staring at me silently throughout my entire rant. I clear my throat and cough awkwardly. "So, yes, uh, long story short, I'm from a different planet. I'm... sorry?" I internally smack myself in the head, squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation. 'I'm sorry'? What the hell are you apologizing for, god this is going to make things so awkward, ugh.

However, after several seconds go by without any sort of panicked shouts, scurrying away, or anything like that, I slowly creep my eyes open.

Lyra remains seated away from me, continuing to stare at me in silence, but at some point during my speech, she had begun to lean forward in earnest. She slowly climbs to her hooves and begins to creep closer, eyes staring deep into mine, all caution in her previous expression completely vanished and replaced with a burning curiosity.

What the heck is she doing? My eyes flicker nervously between hers and anything else around her I can find as she creeps closer and closer, gradually invading my personal space. I scooch backwards as much as I can until I feel my wings brush against the wall behind me.

She gets close enough to me that I can make out all the little details in her iris. Wow, ponies really do have massive eyes. She lifts a hoof, to which I flinch instinctively, and pokes the fluff of my chest with it.

I deadpan. "What."

She looks into my eyes, her head tilting. "You're not messing with me? You're really from..." She glances upwards. "...out there?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah, like I said, I'm veryyy sure. That or I'm dead and I'm in heaven."

Lyra stomps her hoof hard against the ground beside me. I wince, anticipating another assault like from Luna, but freeze when I spot her expression: full of glee and excitement and wonder.

"I knew it!"

I shake my head and back up a little more to regain my personal space. "You knew... what?"

"That there are other beings out there! That we aren't alone!" She claps her hooves together quite ecstatically. "This is so cool! I've been telling Bon Bon all the time, but she'd just call me crazy and silly, and that I—"

"Wait wait wait." I quickly throw my hooves up, feeling the possibility of a life story dump coming. "Slow down there. Um, and who's Bon Bon?" She opens her mouth to respond, but a memory swiftly passes through my head. "Oh wait! Is thaaaat, uh, the other pony with you in that picture in the hallway?"

Lyra tilts her head to glance up the stairwell and into the upstairs hallway. "Oh, right! Bon Bon! Yeah, she lives with me here. I mentioned earlier that I moved here? She was the one that showed me around town and let me live with her until a place opened up, then we became even closer friends and decided to just stay roommates!"

Aw, that's actually really ni—

"So where are you from? Um... is your planet nearby?"

"I... don't think so?" I look up thoughtfully. "There's no way this planet's in my solar system, the constellations wouldn't really be any different. And we're pretty knowledgeable about all the nearby planets, I think we'd know if one has entire fields and oceans and a living population. Oh, and if there's a friggin' SUN orbiting it! We only have one sun and it certainly doesn't orbit any of the planets."

Lyra gasps. "Your system has more than one planet?"

"Yep, nine of them." I pause. "Though one of them issss not one anymore."

"What does that mean?"

Should still be nine, but whatever. "Something about it being too small to still be called a planet, don't worry about it."

Lyra chuckles. "Well, what's the... name of the planet you're from?"

"Earth."

"...Earth?"

I nod slowly. "Yes, that's the name."

She rolls her eyes. "What kind of name is that? Isn't that like calling the planet 'Dirt'."

"I— I mean—" I stutter. "I guess? I wasn't the one who named it! There was probably a different name a long time ago, I just know what we call it now." I point a hoof at her accusingly. "What about your planet? 'Equus'? Isn't that like calling it 'Horse'?"

"Hey, that's not even the same thing!"

"That is totally the same thi—" I blink. What the hell. "Woaahhh do you see that?"

Lyra peers at me in confusion. "What?"

I stab my hoof towards the door behind her. "Look outside!"

She follows my gaze to the window beside the door, where a small stream of sunlight flowed and shifted visibly onto the floor. "Oh! The sun's up finally."

My eyes widen. "What are you— what do you mean, it's up?! Look how fast it's going!"

She glanced at me, then back towards the streaks of sunlight on the floor. "That looks normal to me."

"It's so fast!" I scramble away from the light as if I were a vampire. "At that rate, the day has to be like an hour long or... or..."My mouth hangs open, my last word trailing off the tip of my tongue. "It just stopped."

Lyra looks back to the beams of sunlight, where they indeed have ceased their rapid movement across the floor. "Um... yes?"

"The sun rose that fast, then just suddenly slowed down by itself, and you're telling me that's normal?!"

Lyra tilts her head at me in confusion. "That's... normal, yeah. What, is it different on your planet?"

"'Is it different on your planet?' YES! YES, IT VERY MUCH IS!" I shout, still backing away from the light. I wince as I continuously stomp my hooves on my own mane. Ugh, for the love of— how does anyone manage this much hair, let alone a pony walking on four legs?! "Forget the fact that the speed is supposed to be consistent. The sun isn't even supposed to move! I mean, yes, it does move! Sort of! But Earth is supposed to orbit around the star, not the other way around. How can that even work with gravity?! Man, flat earthers would have a field day with this."

"What's a flat earther?"

"You don't even want to kno— WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" I cry out in shock as a trail of glistening smoke streams directly through the window and approaches me.

Oh wait, this happened earlier, right? I calm down and still myself as the smoke coalesces into a ball of spinning smoke and green sparkles. Like before, the ball slowly compresses before bursting in a flash of yellow light, leaving a small, sealed scroll in its wake that tumbles to the floor.

I stare at it silently, poking it with a hoof. "This again?"

Lyra approaches, her eyes also trained on the scroll. "Are you... gonna read that?"

"Oh, right, yes." I sit down on my haunches and awkwardly roll the scroll towards me with my front legs. I then try to push the seal and ribbon off the scroll with one hoof while holding the paper down with my other hoof.

"Um... Pri— I mean, uh... what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to open it, what do you think?"

She raises an eyebrow at me.

I stare back at her. "What?"

She gestures upwards with her eyes.

I follow her gaze to the ceiling, where I spot nothing out of the ordinary. "Huh?"

She rolls her eyes. "Your magic?"

"My—" I recall numerous instances of unicorns floating things around, presumably with their horn. "Oh, yes. My magic. Of course." I reach up and prod at my horn, wincing from the still unfamiliar contact. "I, uh..." I bite my lip and look away. "I don't know how."

"Huh?" Lyra trots closer, peering at my horn. "Is something wrong with your horn? Or are your reserves drained and—"

"No, and no." I sigh in embarrassment. "Alien human from another planet, remember?"

"Ohhh, right, no horns. Do you use magic in a different way or—"

"No!" I shout in annoyance, but calm down when I see Lyra wince slightly. "Sorry. No, uh... I've never used magic before."

Her eyes widen. "There's no magic on your world?"

"Not that I know of, though that'd be super convenient if there was." I laugh and roll my eyes. "Anyway, uh..." I look at her and sigh. "Could you... help please?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Lyra trots forward, her horn glowing with a golden light. A similar, gold aura surrounds the scroll as it lifts off the ground and floats in front of her. The seal and ribbon slide off and float to the ground as the scroll fully unrolls before her. Her eyes furrow in confusion as she reads off its contents.

"
Dear Princess Celestia,

On our way!

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
"

"'On our way'?" I repeat, slowly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lyra blinks, staring at the letter. "That they're on their way? That's pretty self-expla—"

A loud banging erupts from behind the door. Lyra jumps and shrieks in surprise, the light around her horn flickering out as the scroll crumples to the floor.

"This is the Royal Guard! Open up immediately!" My eyes shoot wide open as the voice booms throughout the house. More aggressive banging follows the command, reverberating through the walls and causing some of the hanging decor the rattle.

Shit! No no no no, how did they find me this quickly?! Was... was it that magic smoke letter? What do I do, what do I do? My eyes meet Lyra's.

"Is there another way out?" I whisper to her.

"No, just this door." She whispers back. "I don't think you'll fit through any of the windows either."

I blink. Did she just call me fat? I look down at myself. Oh who am I kidding, these houses are probably built for ponies of her size, and I'm obnoxiously taller than all of them.

"This is your last warning! Open the door, or we will open it ourselves!"

"Get behind the couch in the other room! And don't make any noise!" She whispers urgently.

I nod and scramble as best as I can on my four legs down the entryway for what looks like the living room. I quickly identify a couch and dive behind it right before I hear Lyra open the door.

Author's Note

Sorry for the longer than usual wait on the update! Took a while to get over a writers block, but starting now, I anticipate a 1-2 week schedule once again (and I mean it this time!)