You were home.

It was such a simple observation, yet it confused you. How were you home? You thought you’d left home months ago. Sitting up in your bed, you looked around to see the familiar features of your bedroom.

Your bed was in the back left corner of the room. Looking to your left, you saw your desk, where your high-end PC, monitor, keyboard, and mouse were neatly arranged. Sitting next to it were two large display shelves where multiple completed Lego sets, figurines, books, plushies, games, collector’s items, and many other items you’ve collected or bought over the years sat. On the wall to your right, plastered just above your bed were multiple posters of video games and some music bands. Just above your bed’s headboard sat a window covered in a thick curtain that didn’t allow any light inside your room. At the foot of your bed was a dresser with four drawers and some cologne and deodorant sitting on top. Finally, your closet sat parallel to you with the door leading to your room nestled to the left of it.

Throwing your feet off the bed, you stood up and quickly examined yourself. You let out a relieved breath upon seeing that you’re still dressed in your multiple layers of clothing; however, your mask and tinted goggles are not present on your face. No wonder you could see somewhat clearly in the pitch-black room, if you still had your goggles on you would’ve been stumbling through the darkness like a drunkard.

Looking around your room, you begin your search for your missing equipment. It didn’t take long as you found them stashed away in the top drawer of your dresser.

Putting your mask and goggles on, you carefully shimmied to your room door. You stopped and pressed your ear against the door, listening for movement. You’d left this place for a reason, and you weren't exactly inclined to have an encounter with one of them right now.

After hearing nothing for a couple of seconds you took a deep breath and turned the knob on the door and pushed it open. Sticking your head out the door, you looked left and right before quietly stepping into the dark hallway.

Turning left, you quietly traversed down the hall. You kept your body low and made your footfalls as quiet as possible. Once you reached the end of the hallway, you noticed a lot of noise and many familiar voices coming from the backyard.

Turning to the kitchen, you approached one of the many covered windows and pulled the curtains just a bit to see outside.

The sight left you flabbergasted. There they were, your mom, dad, brother, grandma, and grandpa. They were all outside having a barbecue if what you're seeing is correct. But the most important thing was that they were all okay!

Your heart raced as you rushed to the sliding door in the dining room to run outside and hug them, kiss them, talk to them, anything. Words cannot begin to describe just how much you missed them, just how guilty you felt knowing that you were lucky enough to live and they weren't.

It hurt so much hearing their voices call out to you, begging you to come out and join them in the light. You almost did join them a couple of times, but you got cold feet in all those moments. Your unbridled terror and fear getting the best of you and making you run back to your room and sob in your closet.

You reached the door and attempted to pull it open but it didn't budge an inch.

You tried again, and again, and again, even going so far as to put your foot up against the door frame to pull it open.

But it didn't even so much as bend under your abuse.

Each failed attempt ignited a sense of helpless desperation in you as you tried hopelessly to open the door.

Once it was clear that the door wasn't moving, you rushed back to the kitchen and approached the window.

Maybe you could crawl out through it?

Ripping off the curtains and exposing yourself to the bright yellow light of the sun in the sky, you hooked your fingers on the window gaps and pulled. But it only yielded the same results as the door.

Suddenly, the sound of static filled the air and your eyes drifted to a radio that was sitting on the kitchen counter. It continued to play static for a moment longer before the static ceased and gave way to the unmistakable tone of the Emergency Alert System.

Soon after a robotic, monotone voice spoke.

“The SCP Foundation, under the authority of the U.S. government, has interrupted your standard broadcast to announce an Apollyon-level threat.”

Horror gripped you as you whipped your head back to the window to see the once bright yellow sun start bleeding red.

“The SCP Foundation is dedicated to the protection of the public. So please listen carefully to these next instructions.”

Your family was instantly affected by the sun, their screams filling the air as their skin began to melt into a red, gelatinous substance.

“Stay indoors and lock all doors and windows. Next, block out all-natural light from entering your home.”

Once they were fully melted, they began to combine into a single, much larger mass with their screams devolving into nothing more than moaning and unintelligible babbling.

“Avoid all light emitted from the sun and all light reflected by the moon.”

The now combined mass began to gurgle loudly, and your family's deformed faces began to look around by popping in and out of random places on their new body.

One of the faces spotted you staring at them. You stared back, fear making you freeze in place.

“Do not investigate any unknown sounds or noises. Do not interact with anyone no matter how human they sound.”

The single face was joined by the rest. All of them not saying a word as they stared you down.

“Why did you leave us?” you heard your mother's voice suddenly say.

“I… I couldn't…”

Your meek response was interrupted by your father's voice, “We waited patiently for you to join us, and you just left like the selfish bastard you are!” he roared angrily.

You looked down, not being able to face them. You know the words weren't true, that they weren't your true family, but it still hurt so much.

“Well, at least now the sucker can join us,” your brother's voice remarked.

You could barely even manage a confused response before the sound of glass shattering pierced the air.

You let out a yelp and a scream as you felt their slimy tendrils curl around your arms and start to painfully drag you out the window.

“NO! WAIT PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO!” you scream fearfully. But your pleas fall on deaf ears.

“Shhh. It’s okay, sweetheart. It won't hurt one bit, I promise,” your grandmother reassured you in that sickly sweet voice she always used whenever you were upset.

Your screams of terror increased tenfold once you felt them begin to tug off your mask until eventually, you met eyes with the sun.

///

You shot up with a gasp and threw yourself off the bed you were lying on in a panic. You face-planted the ground with a wheeze and fought desperately to untangle yourself from the blanket that clung to your body.

In your wild panic, you didn't realize the amount of noise you were making, and as a result, you didn't hear the footsteps approaching the door to the room you resided in.

“Goggles?” a concerned voice said.

You froze and looked over to where the voice came from. Standing in the doorway was Violet, her face morphed into one of deep concern. You tried to stand but found your limbs still tangled in the blanket, the tightness making you feel claustrophobic. You started to hyperventilate as you desperately fought to release yourself from the blanket’s grip.

“Hey, hey! Calm down, it’s okay!” Violet’s said, catching your attention again.

She quickly trotted inside the basement and used her horn to activate the lights. Many lanterns around the room flickered to life as bright blue flames erupted from within. The room was bathed with the soothing light, and you felt yourself calm down as you stared at the blue flames in one of the lanterns. Your breathing slowed and your muscles loosened. Your heart rate gradually decreased and your panic ebbed away under the blue flame’s comforting aura.

The sound of hooves clopping against wood caught your attention, and you looked up to see Violet peering down at you with an upside-down face.

“You… Okay?” she asked slowly.

You nodded, “Yeah, just um… Bad sleep,” you said as you began to untangle yourself from the blanket.

It’s been about a week since you first arrived in this silly little place, and despite your best efforts at denial, you’ve grown to accept that this is real and isn’t some sort of dream or very vivid delusion.

At first, you were worried about your living situation because it was only a matter of time before Violet decided to give you the boot and kick you out of her place. You brought it up to her and after a long game of charades and many drawings, you learned that she was happy to let you stay for as long as you’d like.

How extraordinarily convenient!

You caught sight of Violet’s sad expression as you freed yourself from the blanket, making you frown as well. The poor girl’s been working herself up and down to make you feel nothing but comfortable in her home/library ever since you shot up from a very unpleasant nightmare in the middle of the night one time. You still feel guilty for making such a mess of the library and no doubt scaring Violet to death.

Sitting up on the floor, you turned towards Violet before patting your stomach, “Break… uh… Break-fast?” you said unsurely.

Violet’s eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically, “Breakfast, yes! I’ll bring you some right now,” she said before disappearing up the stairs.

While you didn’t understand exactly what she said apart from the word “breakfast” you were making slow strides in learning their language. However, there was quite an unexpected obstacle in the way of learning how to fluently speak horse.

You quite literally couldn’t pronounce some of the words that came out of her mouth.

For example, there was one time Violet tried to tell you what you assumed to be her name, but it was a weird hybrid between a horse-like sound and an actual word. You tried pronouncing it, but you weren't getting any closer by the way her face scrunched at each failed attempt. Strangely, the same could be said for your name. No matter how many times you said it or how slow you said it, Violet could not seem to pronounce it. The only thing that came out of her mouth was the start of the first letter before it all fell apart.

“I’m back!” Violet said while carefully holding a silver tray in her magic.

You got up from the floor and sat on your bed. Violet floated the tray over towards you and you took it by its handles before gently setting it in your lap. In front of you was a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs with toast and a small side of hashbrown.

You hummed in delight before grabbing the top of your mask and taking it off with your goggles. From the corners of your eyes, you can see Violet staring at you with curiosity written all over her face. It’s not like she hasn’t seen your face before, shit, she got the full-course meal when she practically forced you to bathe a couple of days ago.

Ugh, God knows you needed it, the water was pitch black by the time you were done. Though, seeing Violet’s utterly flabbergasted expression when she saw your dick out in the open was funny enough that it saved you from the embarrassment of the situation. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the unpleasantly long and boring wait of having your clothes washed and dried the traditional way.

Oh great, you were rambling.

Anyway!

What you were trying to say is that you are quite the strange creature in Violet’s eyes. Imagine being raised surrounded by others just like you when all of a sudden this tall, black, two-legged thing just walks into the town you live in. Now you understand why all those horses ran away from you; not that you blamed them, you’d probably have freaked the hell out too if you were a cute, tiny horse.

Dispersing your thoughts with a shake of your head, you grabbed the comedically small fork and knife resting on the tray and dug into the food in front of you.

///

Pony Town, as you’ve come to call it, is a small and homey village. You could easily walk a couple of laps around the place before it hit midday. Such is what you were doing at the moment to clear your head. You chose the less-traveled paths of town, preferring to avoid unnecessary tension with the residents. They still cower at the sight of you. But instead of running away from you, they just act overtly cautious whenever you’re around as if the wrong move will suddenly send you into a crazed frenzy.

You didn’t like it, but it couldn’t be helped. The best you can do is keep your distance and wait for them to slowly get used to you.

You come to a stop near a children's playground and take a look around. There are a few benches along the path, but the thought of sitting in the sun doesn't particularly appeal to you. As your gaze drifts over the park, you pass over the slides, swings, and other play structures, instead focusing on the large tree standing nearby.

It was close to the playground, yet far enough away to reassure horse parents that their kids could play unmolested by the big alien. Not that you would try anything anyway, you were quite keen on not getting trampled by a bunch of angry mares and/or stallions.

Walking over to the tree, you plopped yourself down on the soft grass and took off your rucksack. Leaning your back against the tree’s rough bark, you opened your rucksack and fished out your journal and a pencil. It’s been a little while since you’ve written in it, so you intend to add another log along with some doodles.

Flipping to an empty page, you began to write.

///

Day two-hundred and something. Log #43

Finally got around to writing in this thing again. Let me tell you, a lot has happened in the time between this log and the last log. Apart from almost dying, the biggest thing that’s happened is that I’ve been isekai’d into ponyland.

Yup, the Japanese definitely knew some shit, man.

A part of me wants to be grateful for this, but the other part of me just keeps wondering why. Why me? What did I do to get sent into what is arguably considered paradise compared to what’s going on at home? I… I don’t know, and I probably will never know.

I probably shouldn’t think about it too much. Who knows, maybe God or whoever or whatever sent you here might just send you back for being ungrateful. Hehehheh… That’s not a fun thought…

Anyway! Why don’t I just leave all that heavy baggage behind me and just talk about all the fun and good stuff that’s happened here?

First, there’s Kirby—a tiny, very pink horse who threw me a welcoming party on my second day here! Now, you’re probably wondering why I nicknamed her Kirby instead of something more obvious, like Pinky. The answer is simple: I’m pretty sure she has a bottomless stomach (just like Kirby!) I watched her devour an entire cake. Yes, an entire cake. No cuts, no slices—it was a fresh, whole cake straight from the kitchen. But that’s not all. Somehow, she managed to pull an entire cannon out of her puffy mane. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear, she’s got some kind of Looney Tunes-style powers, and honestly, it freaks me out a little.

Secondly, I’ve managed to befriend a dragon! At least, I think Barney’s a dragon. He’s missing the wings, but he breathes green fire so that’s got to count for something, right?

Similarly, I believe I may have accidentally domesticated Skittles, a rainbow-haired pegasus. Ever since the first day when the pegasus ended up as a melted puddle of affection in my lap, she’s been consistently seeking me out during the afternoon to receive more pets. It was undeniably adorable and served to somewhat boost my rep as a harmless person amongst all the other horses.

///

The sound of many voices and the cacophony of many hooves approaching made you stop writing and look up from your journal to see what was going on. Approaching from the path you used was a single dark fuchsia-coated mare with a rosy pink mane and tail leading a group of baby horses. You can hear the tones of excitement and restlessness in the baby horses as they talk to one another and you were left wondering just what exactly they were doing here.

Your question was answered once the fuchsia mare pointed to the playground, said a few words, and allowed the gaggle of kids to run into the playground while she stayed behind at a distance to supervise.

You tilted your head in thought. Was she some kind of dedicated babysitter or something? No, that doesn’t make sense, no sane person would willingly want to babysit that many kids unless they were getting paid a lot. Eh, whatever she was, it doesn't seem like she or the kids know you’re here.

You felt a smile creep up on your face as you watched all the kids play with carefree abandon. Their laughter and joy were infectious, and it honestly left you feeling a bit sentimental about your childhood as well. You felt a bubble of laughter creep up your throat, you probably looked so fucking creepy right now.

Holding in your laughter, you directed your attention to the fuchsia mare who was sitting on her haunches and diligently watching the kids. Softening your grip on your pencil, you began to create a small sketch of the mare in your journal.

///

“Tag, you’re it!” Rumble shouted before quickly running away.

The newly tagged Scootalooo grinned before setting her sights on Snips. Snips’ eyes widened as he realized he was Scootaloo’s target, and he began to run away as fast as his small legs could take him.

“You can’t get away from me Snips!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she began the chase.

As Scootaloo chased Snips, the other foals made sure to keep their distance lest Scootaloo decided to change targets. Scootaloo chased Snips through the park, making sharp turns and using his smaller size to squeeze through narrow spaces. Groaning in frustration, Scootaloo looked around for some potentially easier targets.

“Nngh, come on…” Scootaloo heard a voice say.

Turning to the direction it came from, Scootaloo spotted Apple Bloom struggling to squeeze herself through the bars of a dome-shaped jungle gym.

With a grin, Scootaloo charged at her new target, “I’m gonna get you, Apple Bloom!”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened with panic and her struggle increased in intensity. Right as she was about to escape from the bars, Scootaloo came and tapped her on the head.

“Hah! You’re it now, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo announced before quickly scurrying away.

This process repeated, with many foals being tagged as the game went on. The sounds of laughter permeated the air with the occasional playful shriek of somepony being driven into a corner before being tagged. Eventually, the large game of tag died down and the foals dispersed into their own friend groups.

“Whew, that was fun!” Apple Bloom said with a big smile.

“Yeah, but it was so tiring,” Sweetie Belle mumbled as she lay on the floor, breathing heavily.

“Tiring? Ha! I could practically go all day!” the two heard Scootaloo say as she swung from the seats on the swingset.

“Well, what do you want to do now? I’m open to doing whatever,” Apple Bloom said.

Waiting for the swing to reach the peak of its momentum, Scootaloo let go of the ropes and flew out of the seat before landing perfectly on all four hooves.

“Why don’t we go play in the sandbox? Who knows, maybe we can get our Cutie Marks in making sandcastles!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up in excitement, “And if we get Cutie Marks in making sandcastles, then we can enter sandcastle-making tournaments!”

Apple Bloom furrowed her brow and tilted her head, “That’s a thing?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Yeah, I remember reading about it in one of the newspapers Rarity brought back one day. The winner got a trophy and everything!”

“Shoot, you don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s give it a shot!” Apple Bloom said before galloping to the sandbox.

For several minutes the self-proclaimed Cutie Mark Crusaders tried and failed to make a somewhat decent-looking sandcastle. They tried many different designs and even went about trying to make a simple box castle. But no matter how hard they tried, their attempts always ended up as nothing but a lump of sand.

“I guess we aren’t cut out for sandcastle making are we?” Sweetie Belle asked dejectedly.

Apple Bloom sighed sadly, “Nope, guess not.”

The sound of hooves approaching made the Crusaders lift their heads to see who was coming, only to roll their eyes and groan in annoyance.

“Well, if it isn’t the blank flanks,” Diamond Tiara stated mockingly.

“What do you want, Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo asked with an irritated expression.

“Oh nothing,” Silver Spoon said, “Just wondering what you three were trying and failing to do this time,” she said with a grin.

“Why do you care? Don’t you have anything better to do right now?” Sweetie Belle said with narrowed eyes.

"Well, we were going to tell you about something that might help you get your Cutie Marks," Diamond Tiara said, her tone dripping with faux concern. "But since you obviously don’t want us around, we’ll just go." She turned sharply on her hooves, walking away alongside Silver Spoon, smirks plastered across both their faces.

The Crusaders exchanged glances. Despite not liking Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, they were curious about what the two bullies had in mind for them, and they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to potentially get their Cutie Marks.

“Wait!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

Diamond Tiara stopped and turned her head, “Yeees?”

“Listen, I’m sorry for acting like that to you. It wasn’t very nice. But, we’re curious about what you were going to suggest for getting our Cutie Marks.”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara shared wicked grins before the two walked back over to the Crusaders.

“Oh, it’s nothing too hard. I bet you’ll get your Cutie Marks on the first try,” Diamond Tiara said.

Now that got the Crusaders’ attention.

“Awe, c’mon. Stop leaving us in suspense!” Scootaloo said with an excited buzz of her wings.

Silver Spoon snickered, “In that case, we think you could get your Cutie Marks from talking with the big monster living in Twilight’s library.”

“W-What!?” the Crusaders sputtered.

“Are you crazy!? No way we can talk to it, no way!” Apple Bloom fearfully said, her legs quivering.

“Yeah, don’t you know how big and scary it looks? You can’t even see its face!” Sweetie Belle added.

Scootaloo smirked, “Hah! That thing isn’t so scary. Rainbow Dash told me herself,” she said with faux confidence.

“Oh, really? Then why don’t you go talk to it if you’re so sure,” Diamond Tiara challenged.

Scootaloo didn’t meet Diamond Tiara’s stare, her confidence beginning to wane, “Well, uh, that’s just because I haven’t had an opportunity to!” she said with a nervous shuffle.

“It’s a good thing your first opportunity showed up then,” Silver Spoon said before pointing somewhere behind the Crusaders.

The Crusaders turned to see a large tree, the one Silver Spoon was pointing at. More importantly, however, was the creature sitting in its shade, silently watching them. The three fillies nearly jumped out of their skins when they spotted it. How long had it been there? Had it been watching them the entire time? Should they tell Ms. Cheerilee?

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughed at their reactions.

“What’s wrong? I thought you said it wasn’t scary, Scootaloo,” Diamond Tiara taunted.

“Yeah, are you going to chicken out?” Silver Spoon said smugly.

Scootaloo glared at the Silver Spoon, the insult ringing heavy in her head. Grr, she hated being called a chicken.

“No way! I’ll do it, I’ll show you I’m not scared!” she said before marching over towards the creature.

“Scootaloo, hold on! Just think about this for a second,” Apple Bloom pleaded as she stood in her friend’s way, “What if you get hurt?”

“Apple Bloom’s right, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle nodded, “Don’t let them get to you, they’re trying to make you do something stupid.”

Scootaloo had to agree. Her friends made very good points about why this was a bad idea. But she had her mind set on this, and she wasn’t going to let Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon get the best of her.

“Listen, girls, it’ll be fine. Like I said, Rainbow Dash told me herself that it isn’t all that bad. And if Rainbow Dash can be friends with it, then so can I!”

Apple Bloom sighed in defeat, “You aren’t going to change your mind, aren’t you?”

“Nope!”

“Well, if you aren’t going to change your mind, then I suppose we could help you,” Sweetie Belle said, “While you go and, uh, meet the creature, Apple Bloom and I will distract Ms. Cheerilee.”

Scootaloo nodded, “Sounds like a plan. Just give me a signal for when I should go.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded before trotting off toward Ms. Cheerilee, leaving an increasingly nervous Scootaloo behind.

“Heheh heh… This is such a bad idea…”

///

Scootalooo watched from behind a bush as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle approached Cheerilee. The teacher turned her attention to the two fillies, and they began talking. Before long, the conversation led to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle guiding Cheerilee away, out of Scootalooo’s line of sight. Just before disappearing, Apple Bloom glanced briefly in Scootalooo’s direction and made three quick circular motions with her head before facing forward again.

Seeing the signal, Scootaloo stepped out from behind the bush and looked toward the tree the creature was sitting under. She gulped nervously before slowly starting to approach. The closer she got, the more fearful she became, though she was silently glad that the creature seemed distracted by whatever it was writing in its book.

Eventually, she got close enough to make out its finer details. The creature was covered from head to hoof in dark clothing, its face obscured by a mask and dark goggles. It sat in an unfamiliar criss-cross position, with a large saddlebag(?) resting beside it. Scootalooo could hear the faint scratching of its pencil against the paper and, despite her lingering fear, she found herself growing curious about what it was writing.

Suddenly, it looked up from its book and Scootaloo froze in terror. It was looking at her, oh Celestia, it was looking at her! What should she do!? Should she scream, run, or both!? Was it going to eat her!?

“H-Hello,” it said softly, “How… er… How are yous?”

Scootaloo balked at the creature, “Y-You can talk!?” she blurted out before quickly slapping a hoof over her mouth with a startled “eep!” Squeezing her eyes shut, Scootaloo curled in on herself, fearfully hoping her outburst hadn’t angered the creature.

“Erm… Not good. Still, um, pracuxing,” it said unsurely.

Scootaloo frowned before hesitantly looking up at the creature, “Huh?”

“Still pracuxing,” it said more confidently.

Scootaloo giggled at the creature’s poor Equestrian, “That’s not how you say it, silly! It’s ‘prac-ti-cing’ practicing.”

“Pracuxing.”

“Practicing.”

“Pra… Practucing?”

“Pract-i-cing. With an ‘eh’ not an ‘uh’.”

“Pract-eh-cing.”

“Yeah! One more time. Practicing.”

“Practicing.”

Scootaloo clapped her hooves together with a grin, “Yeah, you did it! Just like that!”

The creature repeated the word a few times, testing the pronunciation on its tongue. Amazingly, that short interaction managed to snuff out all the fear Scootaloo had of the creature, and she fearlessly approached its side.

“What’s your name, mister? My name’s Scootaloo!”

“Name? Name is Goggles,” Goggles said before tapping the visor of said goggles.

“Cool! Are you from somewhere else? You don’t seem to be able to speak Equestrian very well. Uh, n-not that I mean anything bad by it,” Scootaloo quickly added.

Goggles didn’t respond for a second, and Scootaloo grew nervous again, but it quickly washed away when he spoke again.

“Sorry. Not understandings. Ask… where me come?”

Scootaloo nodded.

“Me come from… far place.”

Scootaloo frowned. That wasn’t very specific. She quickly pushed aside her disappointment. Goggles doesn’t understand a whole lot of Equestrian, so maybe he still needs to learn before he can properly tell her.

Casting a glance at the book in Goggles’ grip, Scootaloo pointed at it, “What were you writing?” she asked curiously.

Goggles looked at the book before shifting his grip so that he was holding it by the top before turning it and showing Scootaloo the page he was on. Scootaloo’s eyes widened, and she let out an awed sound at the sight of the foreign symbols present on the page. The symbols were a weird mix of straight lines, curves, and the occasional circle. They were grouped into many different clusters of varying lengths, and those clusters were further grouped into larger sections that ended with a pronounced dot at the end. Words and sentences, probably.

Shifting her eyes downward, Scootaloo noticed the small sketch Goggles made of Ms. Cheerilee sitting on her haunches.

“Hey, that’s Ms. Cheerilee, our teacher!” Scootaloo said as she pointed at the sketch.

“Teacher? What teacher mean?”

“Oh, right, uh, do you know what the word ‘learn’ means?”

“Learn? Yes,” Goggles said with a nod.

“Okay, well a teacher is somepony who helps us learn things, like math and science. She teaches us at the schoolhouse.”

“Teacher… Learn… Hmm,” Goggles tapped his book, “Teacher learn book?”

“Uh, something like that. Ms. Cheerilee gives us books to read when we’re in class.”

“Oh. Oooh. Teacher! You learn from teacher, yes?”

Scootaloo nodded with a grin, “Yeah! And Ms. Cheerilee is the best teacher ever!”

A comfortable silence descended upon the two as they both mulled over their interaction. Scootaloo had done it, she had befriended the creature! Ha, that’ll show Silver Spoon for calling her a chicken! Speaking of which.

“Hey,” Scootaloo said, catching Goggles’ attention, “You wanna meet my friends?”

///

Apple Bloom wasn’t sure how much longer she and Sweetie Belle could keep up the act. They had been asking nonstop questions about the topic they were focusing on for the week, which was the early days of a newly formed Equestria. Ms. Cheerilee was practically eating up every question they asked and providing well-educated answers that left the two fillies with fewer and fewer questions to ask.

“I think I have one more question,” Sweetie Belle said.

Cheerilee smiled good-naturedly, “What would it be, Sweetie Belle?”

“In some of the books Princess Celestia’s mane is just pink, but now it's all flowy and has a bunch of colors. Why is that?”

Cheerilee brought a hoof to her chin and thought about it, “That’s a really good question. I don’t know the answer to that, but tell you what, tomorrow, if you’d like, you can stay after class for a little and I can help you write a letter to the Princess so you can ask. How does that sound?”

“That… sounds good actually! Do you think she’ll write back?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Princess Celestia is a very busy mare, but let’s hope she can spare some time to write you back. Now, do you two have any more questions, or is that all?”

The two fillies shared a glance before shaking their heads, “No, Ms. Cheerilee,” they both said.

“Great! With the amount of questions you fillies asked me, I have no doubt that you’ll pass the test I have scheduled for you all with nothing but straight A’s. I still recommend that you study when you get home, however, it’ll help all the information stick in your mind better.”

A sudden ear-piercing screech filled the air and Cheerilee whipped her head over to where it came from. Her eyes widened and her breath hitched with fear when she saw the monster from the Everfree following Scootaloo into the playground. Oblivious to the danger she was in, Scootaloo only smiled excitedly as she approached the playground.

The foals scattered while screaming and babbling fearfully. Half hid under the tight spaces of the play structures while the other half ran and hid behind Cheerilee.

“Wh-What do we do, Ms. Cheerilee?”

“I want to go home!”

“Ish it going to gobble ush up?”

“I’m scared!”

Cheerilee tried to calm the foals down with no success, they were too ridden with fear to properly listen to her. Looking back at the creature, she saw that it and Scootaloo had stopped in the middle of the playground. Hesitantly stepping forward, Cheerilee spoke in a soft tone.

“Sc-Scootaloo, I want you to s-slowly walk towards me, okay?” she said, keeping her eyes on the tall beast.

“Why? What's going on?” Scootaloo asked innocently.

Oh, Celestia, please help this poor filly.

“Scootaloo, just please s-step away from the monster,” Cheerilee pleaded.

“Hey, don’t say that about Goggles! He's my friend!” Scootaloo said with a stomp of her hoof.

Oh, goodness, she named it too.

“Wait, you befriended it?” Apple Bloom asked as she and Sweetie Belle peeked around Cheerilee.

“Yeah, and he's not a monster! He's just a bit misunderstood is all.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stepped out from behind Cheerilee and cautiously approached Scootaloo and Goggles.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, what are you doing!?” Cheerilee harshly whispered.

Ignoring Cheerilee’s desperate pleas, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood in front of Goggles, curious expressions etched on their faces.

With a smile, Scootaloo introduced them, “Goggles, there are my friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Girls, this is Goggles.”

“Hello,” Goggles said with a wave of his arm.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped, “It can talk!?”

“Yup! But he doesn’t understand Equestrian very well right now,” Scootaloo said.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Goggles. I hope we can be friends!” Apple Bloom said while looking up at Goggles.

Goggles stared down at Apple Bloom for a moment before crouching down to the fillies level and extending a balled up fist, Apple Bloom tilted her head at the gesture, was it supposed to be a hoof bump?

“Friend?” Goggles asked.

Going on the presumption that it was a hoofbump, Apple Bloom brought a hoof up and gently bumped it against Goggles fist.

“Friends,” Apple Bloom stated confidently.

Goggles repeated the process with Sweetie Belle, while Scootaloo filled her friends in on what she had learned about him during their earlier conversation. The other foals in the playground began to grow curious about Goggles. Their fears gradually faded as they watched the supposed “monster” interact with their classmates without a hint of aggression.

Eventually, their curiosity won out and a colt named Pipsqueak stepped forward and approached Goggles.

“H-Hello, my name’s Pipsqueak. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Goggles,” he said with a Trottingham accent.

“Nice to meet!” Goggles then held out his fist again, “Friend?”

Pipsqueak nodded excitedly, “Yeah, we can be friends! I never thought I would be friends with somepony who wasn’t a pony!” he said before hoofbumping Goggles.

At the clear display of friendliness from Goggles, it didn’t take long before all the foals gathered around him, babbling all sorts of questions while eagerly poking and prodding at his body. Goggles remained completely unbothered by all the attention, in fact, he seemed eager to interact with the foals despite the language barrier.

“Why are you so tall?”

“Why do you wear so much clothes?”

“What are those things on your hooves called?”

“Do you have a face?”

“What’s in your saddlebag?”

Cheerilee watched as the foals she was supposed to be supervising awed at the creature named Goggles. While her fear had greatly decreased, she was still cautious about him. Things only need one moment to go from good to bad, and she’d like to minimize that risk as much as she could.

“Alright, everypony! Why don’t we give Goggles some space so he can show you his items properly?”

Surprisingly, the foals listened to her without complaint, and they all huddled around Goggled in a small half-circle, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

Goggles first showed them his journal, and while it was interesting to see what a different language looked like in writing, the foals were quick to lose that interest. Cheerilee, however, didn’t know if she should feel flattered or creeped out that Goggles decided to draw her without her knowing.

Goggles then began showing the foals his other items. Among them were his plushies, with the favorite being a cute little box-shaped robot. He also showed them a strange color-coded card game, several green pieces of paper and circular metal bits—which Cheerilee assumed were currency from his homeland—and a strangely shaped light emitter.

All in all, it was surprisingly simple compared to what Cheerilee was expecting, then again, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The foals, however, seemed to be losing an increasing amount of interest the longer this went on. It seems they too had some expectations which were, unfortunately, not being met.

Seeing the bored expressions on the foal’s faces, Goggles decided to bring out something that would most definitely catch their attention. There’s a reason you always have to save the best for last. Pulling his phone from out of his pocket, he held it out for them all to see.

The foal’s eyes widened at the foreign object, and they all gasped and awed at it when Goggles turned it on with a press of the power button. On the device’s screen was a picture of a strange swirling mass of purple and blue with a bright light present in its center, the object itself was surrounded by a bunch of other smaller lights that Cheerilee assumed were stars. As the foals exchanged excited whispers about the device, Cheerilee found herself reeling at the implications this picture had.

How had Goggles snapped a picture of this swirling mass? Nopony other than Princess Luna has gone to space before, and even then, Princess Luna was only banished to the moon. What even was the swirling mass? Was it some kind of undiscovered variant of a star or something else entirely?

Cheerilee’s train of thought was interrupted when she noticed Goggles fiddling with the device. After a moment, the glass screen suddenly shifted to another, similar-looking page, but instead of only the picture, the screen was now filled with many different looking icons.

Flipping the device back to himself, Goggles pressed down on one of the icons before holding the device up horizontally in the group's direction.

“What’s he doing?” Rumble asked.

“I don’t know,” Button Mash replied.

Bringing the device back down, Goggles pressed on it once more before flipping it over and showing it to the group. The screen now showed a picture of the group, but Cheerilee wasn’t sure if her vision was playing tricks on her or if the picture was actually mov-

“What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know.”

Rumble and Button Mash’s voices said from the device, their mouths moving in sync to the moving picture.

“What!? How’d it do that!” Button Mash exclaimed.

“It can take pictures and moving pictures!? That’s awesome!” Rumble said, equally as dumbfounded.

The foals then exploded with excitement, and they all wanted a turn being in a moving picture, Goggles was more than happy to oblige.

For the next couple of minutes Goggles took video after video of the foals either doing or saying something in front of his phone camera. Some would say something witty, while others made a silly face or did some kind of trick. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon participated, even if it was only to brag about how much better they were than everypony else.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whistling filled the air, causing Cheerilee to frown in confusion as she looked up to find its source. A blur of rainbow colors flashed past her unexpectedly, making her yelp in surprise. Not even a second later, a heavy thud echoed in front of her which was quickly followed by a pained groan from Goggles.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere, big guy!” a familiar, raspy voice said.

Turning toward the voice, Cheerilee saw none other than Rainbow Dash herself, firmly perched on Goggles’ splayed-out chest while grinning down at him playfully.

“Alright, you know the drill, big guy,” Rainbow Dash said, laying her head down and placing one of Goggles’ hands on her head. “Scratch,” she ordered.

Goggles immediately obliged, and Rainbow Dash’s moaned happily as her world was turned to nothing but mush while she melted under Goggles’ ministrations.

All of the foals present exchanged glances before Scootaloo stepped forward and pawed at Goggles’ other hand. Goggles glanced at her and took in her silent request. Lifting his free hand, Goggles placed it on Scootaloo’s head and began petting.

///

It did not take long at all before you were buried under a pile of sleeping foals and a teacher who slept peacefully at your side. Your hands absentmindedly pet all the foals they could reach with equal care, and you couldn’t help but silently squeal like a girl whenever one of them would flick their cute little ears or make an adorable sound.

You’d wish this moment could last forever, but such isn’t the case for a mortal like you. So you resigned yourself to enjoying the moment as best as you could before you were eventually forced to move on.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. I had to rewrite some sections of the chapter multiple times because I didn't like how they turned out, but I hope you enjoy the final product!

Feel free to point out any mistakes you see :)