Gabriel was sweating as he was about to break his record. He was only a few meters from the goal, when suddenly... he crashed headfirst into the ground. “Damn... “Gabriel sighed as he left the app, having had enough of playing Hill Climb Racing.

After Twilight and Pinkie had left, and now that Gabriel knew he had a reliable way of recharging his phone regularly, he had decided to keep an audiovisual diary of his time in this world. So he filmed himself telling the camera everything that had happened since his first video. Once he'd finished his video, he decided he'd earned a little break and started playing Hill Climb Racing.

The morning passed slowly, and after dinner (which turned out to be no more appetizing than yesterday), Gabriel continued to play offline games on his phone. However, his game-playing was soon interrupted when he heard a knock on the bedroom door. “Er... Come in ?” Gabriel said hesitantly. The door opened to reveal an earth pony Gabriel had never seen before. She had a light brown coat and gray hair and tail. Her mark on her flank represented a scroll wrapped in a blue ribbon, and she looked a little old compared to the other ponies. Another interesting detail was that she wore half-moon glasses.

Before Gabriel could ask anything, Derpy, who was reading a book about Muffins, raised his head and spoke: “Hello Mrs. The Mayor!”

The address seemed slightly surprised, but replied all the same: “Um, hello Derpy, and hello to you Mr. Couset, I presume? I suppose I don't need to introduce myself now?”

“Well... no, not really,” Gabriel coughed, before resuming: ”Good morning to you, Mrs. The Mayor.”

She smiled and said: “Indeed, I am the Mayor of Ponyville. I've come to see you about two things in particular...”

Gabriel's curiosity piqued, he replied: “Really? What's that?”

“Well, first of all, I wanted to give you this "She handed him a piece of cardboard, which Gabriel took, and continued ”Twilight came by this morning to give me your form for access to local citizenship. As you can see, we've taken care of everything!”

Gabriel scanned the identity card, and there was indeed all the info he'd given, including his date of birth, name and species, which he found quite funny but disturbing. “Wow, you were fast...”

The mayor put on a proud face as she replied, “Yes, I know, we're quite efficient...” She picked herself up and continued, “However, all that's missing is your passport photo, which we haven't been able to add yet for obvious reasons. You'll have to come to the town hall as soon as you've recovered to have one taken. By the way, I'm really sorry about your illness, I hope you recover soon...”

Gabriel coughed again before saying, “Thank you so much. Don't worry, it's nothing more than a nasty flu. I'll be fine...”

“Good for you!”

“Yeah... What about the second thing?”

“Ah yes! I just wanted to welcome you all to Ponyville! Normally, I welcome all new residents on their first days here, but I must say... how shall I put this? You're a rather exceptional case...”

Gabriel laughed lightly and said, “Yeah... you could say that. I suppose it must have been quite a panic because of me, wasn't it?”

“Well, yes...” The mayor straightened her glasses before continuing. “... it's true that a lot of pony was... quite worried about you. I must admit, I was pretty scared myself. That's why I asked Twilight and her friends if they could go and see who you were...”

“ You're the one who sent them?” Gabriel asked, frowning.

“Indeed...”

Gabriel, with a weakened movement, turned to the bedside table to drink from his glass of water, then abruptly lay back on his bed before continuing. “Okay... I see. Anyway, I'm sorry for driving like a maniac in the middle of town. I didn't understand what was happening and I wasn't thinking...”

“Oh, don't worry about that, Twilight's already told me all about the circumstances of your arrival. It's me who feels sorry for you, I can't imagine what you're going through...”

“Thank you..., that's kind...”

“What's more, I'm going to organize a speech this afternoon, so that everyone knows who you are and that they don't have to worry about you.”

“You... you'd do that for me?”

“Of course I would! After all, it's my job to help all the pon... er... citizens of Ponyville!” She then looked at a watch out of nowhere, then added: “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've still got other things to attend to. Good-bye and get well soon!” She headed for the door.

“Good-bye and thank you very much!”

“You're welcome, and get well soon too, Derpy!”

“Bye!” Replied the addressed. With that, the mayor stepped through the door and slammed it shut immediately afterwards.

Gabriel was backing away from his work. He'd just finished painting the engine block black. “Beautiful...” he sighed to himself, before shouting, “Dad! Come and have a look!”

A few seconds later, a black pony appeared in the doorway of the workshop and said: “ Wow! You painted that like a pro!”

Gabriel looked at him with raised eyebrows and said, “But... who are you?”

“Huh? What do you mean, who am I? Well, I'm your father !” Answered the strange quadruped while lighting a cigar.

“My father? But you're a talking pony!”

The black pony looked at him with a questioning face, then finally turned and said, “Well, cut the crap, Mom's waiting for us for dinner...” With that he walked away, Gabriel hot on his heels.

“Wait!” He followed him outside to what Gabriel guessed was his house. They went straight into the kitchen, where an orange pony was busy cooking something on the stove.

The pony who claimed to be his father sat down at the table and took out his telephone, which he was strangely good at handling with his hooves, while his so-called mother was still preparing the meal. Gabriel stared at the scene, his eyes transfixed, as he murmured “It's not possible, it's not possible...”

The orange pony raised her head at the sight of her son, asking her husband “”What's wrong with Gaby?“”

“ Nothing, he's just acting,” he replied.

“It's not possible!” Gabriel suddenly had the urge to flee the house. He ran to the front door.

He heard his mother shout, “Where are you going? Dinner's going to be close!” as he passed through the door, but he didn't care. Something was very wrong with this place. He started running as if his life depended on it. In the distance, he could see his neighbor waving at him as he took out the garbage, except it was a pony.

Soon he reached the main road, where he could see cars passing by, but the drivers were all ponies. He crossed the road and came to a playground, where the children of his neighborhood were playing, all transformed into colts and fillies. Ponies, they'd all become fucking ponies!

Suddenly, it began to rain cats and dogs in a matter of seconds, and Gabriel slowed his pace. He finally arrived at a puddle, and it was only at the sight of his reflection that he collapsed to the ground. It was a pony. A fucking brown pony. Tears formed in his eyes as he said aloud to himself. “This is a nightmare, a fucking nightmare...”

“Indeed it is...” Said a soft, feminine voice out of nowhere.

Gabriel sat up suddenly, looking in all directions “What? Who said that?”

“Look up!” said the voice again.

Gabriel looked up to see a dark blue alicorn flapping its wings. A moon-marked alicorn that looked strangely familiar... He stepped back as the creature finally landed on the ground, a small smile on his lips as it spoke again, “Hello, Gabriel.”

The latter simply looked at her with wide eyes, wondering what he could possibly say, before just managing to ask “Who are you?”

“My name is Princess Luna, ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Celestia”

Gabriel stared at his moon mark before asking, “You... you're the one who makes the moon rise?”

“Indeed.”

“This... this isn't the first time I've seen you, is it? I've seen you before... but where? I can't remember...”

“Well, for all you know, I've actually met you twice before in your dreams. In fact, I must confess that your reaction last time was not the most pleasant... Fortunately, you seem to be calmer this time...”

“That's right, you were in my dream! Wait a minute, am I in a dream here too ?”

“Well, yes, you are in a dream.”

“So does that mean I haven't become a pony?”

“No, I can confirm that.”

Gabriel laughed as he realized the situation. “It's just a dream, a fucking dream...” Then he bent down to look at his pony body. “But... why am I having a dream like this where I turn into a pony, eh?”

“Well, only you have the answer...”

“What?”

“Deep down, you and you alone decide your dreams. Unconsciously when you don't realize it, and consciously when you know you're dreaming...”

“That's right... I'm having a lucid dream! That means I can do anything I want!” Suddenly he closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, repeating “I'm a human, I'm a human, I'm a human!” When he opened them again, he could see that he'd regained his normal body. He ran his hands over his entire body as he shouted, “Haha, it fucking worked! I'm a human!”

“See? I told you so!”

"Ooo hold it, what's that on the floor?” Gabriel asked, picking up an AK 47.

Luna looked at the object in astonishment before replying, “Well, I must confess I don't know...”

Gabriel turned to the princess, the weapon in both hands, before saying, still smiling, “Oh, you don't know what it is? Demonstration” He aimed at a right-of-way sign a little further on and began firing. The Kalashnikov began to fire, sending all its bullets into the sign, which soon found itself as full of holes as a sieve. Luna jumped back, surprised by the noise the machine was making. Gabriel soon ran out of bullets and resumed: “Damn! I seem to be out of bullets! Oh, but isn't there a magazine in my pocket?”

He began to rummage frantically in his pocket, but was interrupted by the Princess who approached and said, “Mr. Couset, I understand you're excited about enjoying your dream, but could we have a little chat first?” With that, she conjured up a set of garden furniture, with two chairs and a table, and even two cups of tea. Then she sat down and invited Gabriel to do the same.

The latter dropped his weapon and hesitantly sat down on the second chair, then asked, “How did you do that?”

“Well, as it happens, I too have the power to change certain aspects of this dream...”

“What? Hey, is this your dream or mine? And how come I'm dreaming about you when I've never seen you in real life? I mean, if what I experience when I'm not asleep is real, I mean...”

“Well, you see, I'm not really the work of your dream...”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Mmh... How shall I put it? As Princess of the Night, it is indeed my duty to raise and lower the Moon each day, and to watch over the kingdom at night while my older sister rests. But it's also my duty to visit the dreams of the ponies, especially those with concerns, in order to reassure them, counsel them, you understand?”

Gabriel stroked his chin, thinking for a moment, before saying, “So... you can read people's minds?”

“Well, no, not in their minds. Only in their dreams. It's not the same thing...”

“Yes... but still! Dreams are private! I mean, right now it's fine, there's nothing embarrassing, but if someone has an embarrassing dream, or an erotic one... Will you look at them?”

Luna blushed slightly, not really expecting that kind of question, and replied: “Actually, I try not to get involved in that kind of dream. As I said, I mostly visit the dreams of people with worries or problems in order to help them...”

“Well, okay, okay... And like, so if we see each other in real life, will you be able to tell me that I dreamt we had a chat over tea right after I rafal a sign with a kalash?” The alicorn simply nodded. Gabriel laughed. “Eh well, look at that, a Princess who can visit dreams... Wouldn't you also have a Princess of Love while we're at it?”

“Well...”

“No, never mind, just kidding. Anyway, it's really nice of you to come into my dreams and help me and all that, but honestly, I don't really see what you could do. I mean, I'm stuck on another planet I don't know how many light-years away from home, with no idea how I got here or if I'll ever be able to leave and see my loved ones again. So, no offense, but I don't think giving me some advice is going to make things any better...” Gabriel bent down and picked up a fresh beer from a crate that hadn't been there a moment before and took a few sips before resuming, “The only thing you could do would be to get me home in a snap, but I suppose that's not possible...”

Luna looked sad before replying, “Indeed, I'm very sorry...”

“What was I saying?” Gabriel took another sip from his bottle

“Um... I know this isn't the subject, and forgive my curiosity, but... What are you drinking?”

“Ho, this?” Gabriel says, pointing to the bottle, “It's just a beer. It's, uh, one of the home beverages... ”

“That's curious...”

“Would you like one?” Gabriel asked, holding out another bottle to the Princess.

“Well, yes, why not? I'm curious to see what it tastes like.” She took the bottle in her magical aura and took a sip, then coughed slightly before saying, “Ah yes, I see, it's special... I'm not sure I like it, I think I'll stick to Tea... Sorry...”

Gabriel took the bottle and said, “That's okay, it's always like that the first time, after that you get used to it... I'll drink it for you...”

The two sipped into their respective drinks, unsure of what to say to each other, and an awkward silence ensued. A silence that was soon broken by Luna, who continued: “Maybe you'll think I'm only saying this to comfort you, but... I know how you feel”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and asked, “Oh yeah? And what exactly am I feeling?”

“You're lost. You find yourself alone in a world you know nothing about and no one and you don't know how to react or what you're going to become, and all you want to do is go home”

“Well... yeah, that's more or less it, actually...”

“You know, I was like you not so long ago...”

“What do you mean?”

Luna looked grave, as if about to reveal a dark secret, then replied, “A thousand years ago, me and my sister ruled Equestria, just like we do today. Except I got carried away with my jealousy. The ponies played and amused themselves during the day, while they were content to sleep at night. One night, I decided not to lower the moon and transformed myself into Nightmare Moon, swearing to plunge the whole of Equestria into darkness. Because of this, my younger sister had to banish me to the Moon”

“To the Moon?” Gabriel exclaimed, stunned by what he heard.

“Yes... and not so long ago, during the Summer Sun Celebration, my evil double, Nightmare Moon, returned for revenge. Fortunately, Twilight and her friends, thanks to the Elements of Harmony, were able to stop and free me”

“Wow, that's uh... I don't know what to say... the Elements of Harmony?”

“Yes, I don't have time to explain in detail. Just know that, when I came back as Princess, I wasn't very well received... I didn't know how to behave and all the inhabitants were afraid of me and avoided me. After being banished for so long, I felt completely lost...”

“Yeah, that sucks... So how did you do ?”

This time, Luna started to smile, and said “I listened to Twilight and her friends' advice. I opened up and showed the townspeople who I really was. And everyone accepted me back and I felt right at home!”

“And... the ones who were scared?”

“Ho... well, it doesn't hurt to be a little scared now and then, does it?” She said, winking at obviously no one in particular.

Gabriel found this strange, but said only “Er, okay...”

“All that to say, even if you feel out of place, you'll still be able to make friends and get your bearings. I'm sure you'll feel right at home too throughout your stay here!”

“Yes, maybe so, but... what worries me most is picturing my loved ones imagining all sorts of scenarios about why I disappeared like that overnight. If only I could send them a letter, or anything, to tell them I'm okay, and that I love them, damn it, I love them...” Gabriel put his hands to his face as he felt tears running down his cheeks.

“I... I'm so sorry. I promise you that me and my sister will do everything we can to get you back as soon as possible...”

“Thank you, thank you...”

“I... I think your dream is coming to an end... don't forget that...” Soon, Gabriel heard only blurred words as his body slowly emerged from its sleepy state. He would soon wake up.

Author's Note

A new chapter at last!
I know this one took a long time to come out, well more than usual. But hey, let's just say I've had other things on my mind lately.
With this chapter I've also finished the first part of my story where Gabriel is “introduced” to the universe. That means the fun is yet to come!
Thanks for your patience and see you next time!

Ho, and happy new year everyone!