The Apprentice

"Ugh, my head." I was laying down somewhere with a splitting headache. A spicy aroma hit my nose. "What the hell is that smell? Vanilla ... and lavender?" My mind raced in confusion. I was about to get up, until I heard some muffled noises.

"Voices? Strangely familiar voices at that. I can't quite place it, but I have definitely heard those voices somewhere before. What are they saying?"

   I tried to focus on them, their clarity began cutting through my foggy mind. As I listened, I analyzed each voice, trying to pick up on what was so familiar about them. I blame the headache for that bout of slow wittedness.

   "Yeah well that's all fine'n dandy sugarcube, but we don't know what it is, or if we want it to wake up."

"Well, that voice has a distinct Country accent. Also, sounds female."

   "Oh, I hope he is not hurt from the fall."

"That one is soft and gentle, and female again."

   "Who cares if its hurt? Just look at it! It is obviously from freakville."

"Brash and energetic, and- wait, freakville... Really?" I thought while slightly irked emotions stirred, "You're lucky my head feels like a train hit me, whoever you are."

   "Now, now, Dashie, there is no need to be rude. I for one find the fashion he is wearing interesting. Why, I have never seen an outfit like that."

"Back to this crap I suppose. Sophisticated manner of speech, more like a ladies tone, again."

   "Really? I think he's cool, why, I bet he loves to party!" The voice made a frantic gasping noice, as if it had a hard time breathing. "We should have a glad you're not dead party if he wakes up!"

"Jesus. Very energetic, and manically upbeat, calm down. Wait, so far, all of them sound like women."

   "Alright girls, let's calm down. Since we could not come up with a conclusive decision, I took the liberty of making a list of things we can do."

"Ha! All women... but that means... I have been unconscious, in a room, with a bunch of women? Hell yeah!"

   "Not another one of your lists Twilight." It sounded like the brash woman was upset over something. "This is not a time to be slowly checking things off, this is a time for action!"

   At that point, I was about to get up and introduce myself, until I finally realized why those women sounded so familiar.

"Hopefully, maybe, these women will shed some light on where, and what, I- wait, did she just say ... Twilight?!"

   "Rainbow Dash, this is a perfect time for a little organization." Twilight said calmly. "Especially since we don't know what he is, or if he is a threat to Ponyville. Thinking, and planning, are the best courses of action at this point."

"Rainbow Dash?... PONYVILLE!? Um, alright. Apparently, I go from some kind of demon girl thing trying to destroy me in every way possible, to somehow going crazy. My Little Pony, of all the cartoon worlds, why not Full Metal Alchemist? The fuck?! I'm not even that big a fan of that show."

    I only knew about the show because of watching my little sister when my parents were out. She was eleven years younger then me, and she loved the show, so, I would watch it with her; and, it was just starting to grow on me a little too, but I never would have known it would end up being my life.

   "Hehehe, look guys, He's making funny faces!" Pinkie said giggling.

   My stomach dropped. I realized my face had contorted into a mixed look of confusion and frustration from what I was hearing.

   "Well, guess the critter's not dead after all." Applejack added.

   "Yay! It's time for a glad you're not dead party!" The pink pony cheered, as her party cannon blasted confetti everywhere.

   At that point, I had enough. I shot up, wide awake on what looked like a thick library table. My eyes were as wide as windows, in total disbelief towards my surroundings. There, standing in shock, were six ponies. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkamena Dianne pie, and Twilight. All of them had perplexed, and frightened looks on their faces.

"Yep, I have lost my mind. Damn it."

   "Uh..." Rainbow Dash grunted out, breaking the graveyard like silence.

   "Hi there!" I jumped when an explosion of pink clouded my view.

"My name's Pinkie Pie, and this is Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. So who are you, and what brings you to Ponyville?"

   I just stared, unable to speak with what felt like a tree trunk in my throat, blocking any hope of giving words. I just could not believe what I was going through. My mind attempted to reject everything. It didn't work.

   "Um, maybe he can't speak our language Pinkie." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in contemplation.

   "Just Look at the poor thing. He is absolutely frightened to death." Rarity stated.

"Fluttershy, you're good with ... exotic animals. You see what you can do."

"Well, if you were losing your ability to reason, you'd be frightened too- wait, animal? What the hell?!" I inwardly sighed. "Cold hearted as ever I see, irony."

   My eyes went from Rarity to Fluttershy. My gaze must have been a little too intense, as she sank into the floor while making one her afraid noises.

"Damn." I cursed at myself. "Great, now I feel bad, I just made Fluttershy afraid of me."

   I tried to push the thought back. While still sitting on the table, I began to look around, trying to take in my surroundings.

"Well, I'm in Twilights home."

   We were in the main room to be exact. The huge book shelves, filled with almost every book you could ever need, surrounded us. There I saw Twilight's writing desk to my left, while the whole library had the spicy sent of vanilla mixed with lavender. I remember how absurd It felt, to be in the midst of it all.

   While I sat, deep in thought, I felt a wind shifting a little to my right. I turned to face its source, and there bobbing in the air, was Fluttershy; she was also covering her face with her front hooves.

   "Uh ... um... Oh ... h-hey there ... little guy... Um -" Fluttershy was trying to talk, but she was cut short by Rainbow Dash.

   "Ask him if he can understand us."

   Fluttershy turned back to me, still hiding under her hooves. "Excuse me, but can you understand me?"

   I could not help but crack a large smile.

"And, that is why this show was starting to grow on me. Darn you for being so adorable, Fluttershy."

   "Oh thank goodness."  Fluttershy cheered after seeing the smile, and opening up a little because of it.

   "So, he can understand us." Twilight commented.

   "Ask him where he is from Fluttershy." Applejack added.

   "Ah ... okay." Fluttershy looked back at me, now with her face open, and her hooves gesturing at me. "Um, excuse me, If you don't mind me asking you that is, where are you from?"

   I opened my mouth trying to talk, but I still could not find my voice.

"Oh great, I must have hurt my throat when I screamed. Incredible." I just shook my head at her.

   Fluttershy just looked back at the others, and shook her head in disappointment.

   Then a thought hit me, I had to be sure I was not in some kind of coma dreamworld inside a hospital or something like that. At the time, off the top of my head, I thought of only one way to be sure. It was not one of my best moments.

"If I'm in a coma, then I must be thinking about the show. So, my unconscious must be challenging me to a battle of wits. Well, how does one outsmart himself? Do something that I would never, ever, do." I looked to the door, and smiled. "I would never just run out of that door, like an idiot, to find a place to think. Yep, never."

   I jumped off the table and bolted to the door, the ponies gasped at my sudden and erratic movement. I made it out the door while running like the wind blew, and jumped into a bush to hide. The six ponies, heartbeats later, burst out the door looking in all directions.

   "Well horse feathers!" Applejack stomped her front hooves on the ground.

"Well, ah got to hand it to that critter though." She said approvingly, "For a non pony, he sure moves fast."

   "Oh, where did he go?" Twilight's tone was frantic. "If the princess finds out about this-"

   "Nevermind that darling." Rarity interrupted. "If anypony else in ponyville sees him, why ... it would be scandalous!"

   "Don't worry guys, he may be fast, but I am willing to bet he can't dash!" Rainbow Dash Boasted. "I bet I will catch him in 15 seconds flat."

   "Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash." Pinkie Pie began waving her hooves around, like she was trying to be spooky. "Who knows what kind of horrors Sparky will unleash on Ponyville, if we don't catch him!"

   Fluttershy bent to the ground in reaction to Pinkie Pies statement.

"Oh my goodness me no, I don't think he would do any harm to anypony."

   "Wait ... Sparky?" Twilight, as well as the other ponies, looked at Pinkie.

   "Well yeah, since we don't have a name for him yet, I gave him one!" Pinkie had a wide grin.

   The others just looked at the pink pony confused.

   "Why Sparky?" Applejack asked.

   "Hehehe, cause he is fast silly." Pinkie was waving her hooves around again, then making gust like wind noises.  "I mean, the way he just wooshed out the front door, and how he just vanished." She poofed out of view with great speed, then reappeared out of nowhere suddenly.

   She continued. "And he would have to be like a spark if he vanished that quickly, like if..."

Pinkie looked around. "If he vanished into that bush over there!"

"Well, shit." Was all I managed to think, as Applejack approached that bush.

   "Yeah, you''re right Pinkie Pie. This bush would make a good hide'n spot."

"Well played other me, well played." With Applejack just a few trots away from me, I was as good as found, until Rainbow Dash spoke.

   "Applejack, we dont have time to look in all the obvious places, and besides, that is a lame hiding spot." She pointed right at my hiding spot, then snorted in laughter. "There is no way he is in there, it's the first place we would look." Then she shot Applejack a serious look.

   Applejack just looked at her, then back to the bush unconvinced.

   "Alright girls, over here." Twilight called the ponies to her, she grabbed a stick then drew a doodle of the town in some soft dirt.

   "We search the town on ground here and here in teams, while Rainbow Dash searches from the sky. Remember, we have to find ... uh, Speedy was it?"

   "Hehe, no silly, it's Sparky!" Pinkie Pie corrected.

   "Right, we have to find Sparky first, no pony else." Twilight spoke, finishing her plan.

   "His name could be Bob for all we care!" Rainbow Dash was losing her patience.

"What his name is doesn't matter right now, finding him matters, right? Look, you girls stay here, since we all know I will find him first. Then I will bring him back here."

  Applejack rolled her eyes.

"It's gonna take all of us to corral that critter. And how are you gonna bring him back here? That kind of lift'n needs an earth ponie's back."

   Applejack then gave her a look of challenge. "And ah wouldn't be too sure of yourself yet Dash."

   Rainbow Dash lifted herself off the ground, then hovered In the air.

"Alright whatever, let's go! He could be halfway to Cloudsdale by now!" She then took off.

   "Yeah! Let's find Sparky!" Pinkie hopped into town yelling Sparky out loud.

   "Right girls, let's go!" Twilight commanded. They all scattered in search of me, while following Twilight's plan.

"Huh, interesting." I took in a deep breath, while I thought for a moment.

"Would you spend more time looking then talking? Or, talking while you're looking?"

    I laughed a little. "Well, regardless, seems like you did not anticipate Rainbow Dash siding with me, did you?"

    No good was coming from hiding there, so I started to look around. I was finally able to get my bearings.

"Yeah, it's Ponyville alright. Hey, there is Vinyl Scratch and Octavia's house just down the street, and there, the road that leads to the town market. Seeing the show has given me a sense of direction, what I know, he knows too."

   I knew sight seeing was out of the question. I needed to find a place to think the next stage of my plan. At the time, I still thought I was really inside a coma. Oh man, what a shock I was in for.

"I cannot stay in this bush, I have to find a spot to think."

    I was quite happy that watching the show gave me a good since of where everything was in Ponyville, even though it was not perfect. I also saw safety in that, since I was in a mind game with myself, it meant that my other self did not have a perfect picture of Ponyville either. So, I figured it as hiding in plan sight.

   Pondering at the big treeline, I could see in the distance, I thought to myself, "That must be the Everfree Forest, I wonder if going there would give me some time to think? Since they think I am some kind of animal. Despite it being the only real place ponies do not usually go, but he might expect that..."

   I figured it was the best place to get my barings if any, since he was being very assuming up to that moment. So I went for the tree line.

   I made my way down the street, creeping along the alleyways, and making sure to expose myself to the sky as little as humanly possible. I figured the only ponies I should watch out for was Fluttershy, and Pinkie for obvious reasons. While the other three ponies should be easier to hide from, as well as the residents of Ponyville. I did not have to worry about Rainbow, since she had obviously sided with me.

   While I was moving cautiously, I expected Pinkie to pop up randomly at any time like she always did, however, she never did.

   I then reached a large clearing leading to the Everfree. I needed to sprint out in the open to make it to the tree line. I half expected the others would spot me, but it didn't seem like they saw me running across the open field.

   While ducking into the shadow cast thicket of the tree line, I couldn't help but think.

"Ether I really know myself, or I am walking right into his hands."

   The thought of my other self watching my attempts at sneaking, and finding it hysterical, made me uncomfortable.

"This is not over yet, I still have my trump card to play. I will do the very thing he wont expect, I will not hide at all. I will let him find me. Thereby ending this game, so we can play a new one."

   Like I said, it was not one of my best moments. Now you see why thinking back to that time is really embarrassing. I had lost my mind, and it was going to get worse.

   I decided to find one of Ponyville's lakes, and wait there for the ponies to find me.

   While I made my way through the tree line, I spotted a large body of water near a meadow.

   "There's a lake, and it's a nice sized one to." I muttered to myself. "I will finally get to meet the one on the other side of the board."

   I walked out of the tree line, then sat near the shore line of the lake. I rested my elbow on my knee, and supported my chin on my fist. While waiting on the others to find me, I tried to figure out how I got here, and how it even happened in the first place.

"Hmm, let's see... That monster of a girl, how does she fit into this? I can't remember anything after she charged me, not really anyway."

   When I was looking back at the time, I realized I should have died, not be inside a cartoon.

"Maybe I died in the fire, and this is hell, forever trapped in a mind war with myself, maybe."

   While looking around, I took in a chest full of fresh air.

"So this is Equestria?" I muttered to myself, "Well, at least the view's great."

   I was so fixated on the impossibility of being there, that I forgot to take all the beautiful scenery in.

   The air was sweet and clean. The water of the lake was clear as glass, and it's surface was smooth, yet, the slightest tug of the wind sent small ripples dancing on the water's surface.

   The birds churped in a musical melody, nothing like the birds back on Earth and the Sun here for reasons unknown, made me feel great.

   I laid down on my back with my eyes shut and ran my hands through the warm grass.

   It was like the Sun's warm light only healed and energized there. Unlike the sun on Earth that only burned your skin, and weighed you down, that Sun made me feel wonderful!

   It felt like a jar of unbridled joy was opening inside, letting out a wave of happiness, and a flood of calm that washed away any tension. Feelings so intense, that I hardly thought them physically possible.

   It was wonderful, so decadently superb a feeling, and so absolutly preposterous of an outcome, all of it was.

   "I never knew the human mind could realistically create such a paradise." I said out loud. "But, any paradise comes with a catch, always. Sadly, this one is a figment of my mind."

   As I laid there, I ran my hand faster over the grass. I must have hit a sharp rock, as I felt a sudden sharp pain cut my hand. I recoiled it and looked at the wound. A small cut bled on my open palm. I touched it, like it was the strangest thing I ever saw. I rubbed the red liquid between my thumb and index finger.

"Real blood and pain, in a dream? Impossible, but ... then." My eyes widened when I realized everything. I muttered in shock. "Then that means..."

   "Hey there he is!" A voice called out, it sounded like Rainbow Dash.

   She darted down at me, and landed just a few feet to my left. "Ha! Told you guys I would find him first."

"Real... It's all real."

   "We found you Sparky! Hehehe!" Giggled Pinkie Pie, while she bounced around the place.

   Fluttershy said sincerely, "Ooh, I hope we aren't disturbing him."

   "Ah, what an absolutely gorgeous day! Who would not simply want to get lost in it?"

Rarity commented, "He defently has the right idea girls, we simply must have a picnic here some day!"

   "Alright Sparky, it's time ya come on back to Twi's library with us." Applejack commanded.

"Can't have the pony folk see'n you an all."

"What, Sparky? They named me after a dog? Nothing has ever felt so demeaning. Alright, If this is how it is, I guess now is the time I should break my silence."

   I got up, then turned to face the six ponies. I took in a large breath, trying to push away the still present pain in my throat.

"My name is Argyle Orion, and yes, I can understand you perfectly."

   "Sparky just spoke!" Pinkie Pie gasped.

   "Well it's about time ya told us your name, a big Ponyville Howdy do to ya." Applejack retorted as friendly as ever.

   "Yes, welcome to Equestria."  Twilight adding to Applejack's welcome.

   I met the ponies eye to eye, with a serious expression. "You must have many questions, but I have many as well."

   The ponies looked at me, and then at one another.

   Rarity's eyes shrugged. "Yes darling, but let us talk about this somewhere more ... private?"

   Rarity started looking around nervously. "If the other ponies were to see you, well, there would be no end of trouble."

   I put my hand to my mouth in thought. "Yes, that would not be a prime outcome to this evening."

   Twilight was gesturing for all of us to follow. "Alright then, it's settled, back to my place!"

   "Yeah! WE have a glad you're not dead party to plan." Pinkie again gasped like a fish out of water.

"OHMYGOSH I almost forgot the welcome wagon!"

   Applejack rolled her eyes. "We'll have plenty of time for party'n later Pinkie."

   Pinkie looked at Applejack while bouncing backwards. "Anytime is always a good time for a glad you're not dead party!"

   As I followed the six ponies back, there was alot of running, and hiding to avoid the other ponies.

    My mind, even with the distractions, could not help but think about my familiy.

"They will likely think I am dead when they return home, since they will find the house burned to a pile of ash. I don't even know if it is physically possible to return home; but, I got here some how, so the math says there is a way."

   I shook my head, while hiding in a alleyway with the others, as other ponies walked by. I desided at that point, there was nothing I could do, so there was no sense in worrying about it.

   Fluttershy gave the word it was safe to run, we were only about 40 yards to the library. We passed by Vinyl and Octavia's home. I heard an awesome dubstep beat pulsing from the inside.

"She must be washing the dishes." I laughed inwardly.

   We finally reached the library, then Twilight opened the door, and motioned for us to hurry inside.

   While inside the library, Twilight offered to make everyone dandelion root tea. I could hardly say no, not just because it would have been rude to say no, but more than that, dandelion root happened to be my favorite tea, with my second favorite being chamomile.

   As I thought about it, I found it odd at the time that they were both flowers, and found it quite odd that they were flowers that seemed to grow there like weeds.

   While sipping greedily on what was perhaps the best cup of dandelion tea I had had, I began to feel strangely at peace. Like I knew I belonged there, or rather like I have been there before. I could not shake the feeling that in my whole life I had just returned home for the first time.

   I thought within myself, "Peculiar, how can one feel like he has returned to somewhere he has never been before?"

  I had too many questions, and there were not enough answers, I decided to leave the matter at that.