In My Dreamsby JamzaChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1In My Dreams Chapter 1 ”So, what’s happening tonight?” Mike asked as he walked towards the bus stop with his friend Jonathan after school on a Friday afternoon. “I dunno. Probably nothing. At least I don’t have any homework so I’ll probably just go home and spend the night watching TV”, Jonathan replied with a monotonic voice. “Oh, what’re you watching? Maybe I can come around later and we can watch something together. We could even rent a movie”, Mike said. He already had the perfect movie in mind. He had seen it before, but would gladly watch it again with his best friend. But instead of accepting the idea with enthusiasm like Mike had expected, Jonathan looked down towards the asphalt and said: “Actually, I’ve kind of already decided what I’m going to watch, and I have a feeling it’s not exactly your ‘thing’, if you know what I’m saying.” “Oh, that’s okay. I’m open for new stuff. So what are we watching?” Mike asked interested. He knew Jonathan liked anime so probably it was something like that. He didn’t really like anime himself but he wasn’t totally against it either. Jonathan looked a bit troubled and thought to himself. “Well it was bound to come out sooner or later, might as well be now.” “I found this series a few years back and I really liked it”, he said still shying away a bit. “It’s called MLP.” “MLP? Never heard of that”, Mike sounded like the name rang a bell somewhere in his mind but he couldn’t figure out where he’d heard the name before. “Oh, you know the series all right”, Jonathan said with a bit louder voice. “Everybody knows it by now. You know, MLP as in My Little Pony.” “Um… Sorry, come again?” Mike asked. He must’ve heard wrong. Jonathan couldn’t have seriously said he liked to watch a show about little colorful ponies adventuring in a cartoon world. “You heard me right”, Jonathan sighed. He just knew Mike wouldn’t take the news well. “MLP as in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, he said louder this time just to make sure Mike understood. “You have got to be kidding me!” Mike gave a shout and facepalmed. “You’re watching THAT show?” Mike hadn’t actually seen any episodes of the show but he had a pretty good idea from what other people had said about it. He couldn’t believe his best friend actually watched the show every other boy in their class basically hated and despised. “Yeah, I watch it! And guess what? I like it!” Jonathan shouted back, louder than he had originally meant to. He didn’t know why he had gotten angry all of a sudden. Mike’s reaction had been exactly as he’d expected. First disbelief, then a facepalm, he was prone to facepalms. Disgust would follow soon and then Jonathan knew he would’ve lost basically the only friend he had. Just because he liked a certain TV-show. “Whoa, there”, Mike said and raised his hands in a protective manner. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t think you liked that kind of things. I’m not judging or anything.” Jonathan was stunned. Mike wasn’t judging him? He didn’t mean to shoot him down for liking the show? This was a bit unexpected. “But..?” Jonathan asked waiting for more. “But. You were right. It’s really not my kind of thing. So how about we watch the movie some other night. I can see you have the evening planned for tonight”, Mike laughed. He wasn’t laughing at Jonathan. He just found the whole situation a bit amusing. “You… still want to be my friend even though I watch My Little Pony?” Jonathan asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mike actually didn’t care and he still wanted to watch the movie with Jonathan? “Well duh...” Mike said and rolled his eyes. “It’s not like a TV-show could stop me from being your friend Johnny, no matter how… questionable a TV-show it was.” Jonathan felt like hugging Mike. Luckily he realized how strange that would have looked like. Instead he just beamed at him and said: “Thank you, Mike.” - - - “My Little Pony! I used to wonder what friendship could be!” Jonathan was alone in his room the opening of MLP playing on his computer screen. He had his headphones on so his parents wouldn’t hear what he was watching. They didn’t know, and as far as Jonathan was considered, they didn’t need to know. It was his life and he watched whatever he wanted. No questions asked. Jonathan was still smiling happily. He had been ever since his confession to Mike. He had known he’d have to tell Mike at some point, and frankly, it had been scary as hell. He knew what the major population thought about grown men watching children’s cartoons. He was eighteen years old and fit perfectly to the definition of a “brony” as the internet slang referred to older MLP fans these days. As far as he knew, bronies were thought as a disgrace to the human race and hated throughout the world. He knew he wasn’t the only teenage boy who liked the show and he was even sure some of the boys in his school secretly watched the show. Still, confessing he liked the show to someone had been scary… so terrifying he didn’t know how he had made it out of the situation without wetting himself or started crying. But he was glad it was over and even better, his friend had accepted it and wanted to be his friend even after he knew! This had to be the best day ever. Tonight’s episode had been just as great as every single one before it. The show was well across its fifth season and it didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Johnny knew that the show had almost been finished after its third season but then a group of bronies who had experience in the business had come out and continued the series even further. They said that they were nowhere near the end of the show yet and that they had enough ideas for at least five more seasons. The news was welcomed with unbelievable cheers and applauds at the 2014 Bronycon. Jonathan had been there too, secretly of course. His parents had thought he was visiting a friend in New York at the time. “Honey! We’re heading off now! Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Jonathan’s mother shouted from downstairs. “Yeah, mom, I’m sure! Have fun!” Jonathan shouted back. His parents were going to the park to see the meteor shower like everyone else in the town. They said in the news that it would be the largest meteor shower for the last thousand years and that there wasn’t any information when another one this big was going to occur, so naturally everyone wanted to see it. Everyone except for Jonathan. Frankly, he didn’t care about some meteors enough to spend the night at the park freezing to death. Even though it was only October, the nights could get extremely cold and the viewing was probably going to take at least four or five hours. “Enough to get hypothermia”, Jonathan thought. So while his parents left towards the town, Jonathan was sitting in his room watching old episodes of MLP and reading fan-written stories on the internet. Little did he know what kind of effects the meteor shower would have on his life. That is to say, his life would never be the same after that night… - - - Jonathan was laughing. Well… actually more like giggling but he would never be heard using that particular word about the way he laughed. The episode he had watched always made him laugh uncontrollably for some reason. It was the one about Applejack’s rodeo competition failure. He always broke out laughing when he saw Pinkie Pie finding out AJ had broken a pinkie promise. Her face was priceless! It had been almost three hours since Jonathan’s parents had left for the meteor viewing and Jonathan was sure they’d be out for at least an hour or so, maybe even more. His parents were amateur astronomists and there was no chance they would let an opportunity like this slip by. Jonathan thought it was pretty stupid, gazing at the stars and hoping you see something interesting. To Jonathan the stars were always the same. Every time he looked up at night he would only see small bright dots, nothing more. Sometimes he thought his parents were crazy being such fanatics but then he remembered that he was just as obsessed about MLP. Most people would probably label him crazy if they knew about his obsession. Jonathan was just about to play the next episode, “Luna Eclipsed”, when suddenly he saw something bright in the sky behind his window. “Well, I guess I could watch the meteors from my window for a while. At least I won’t freeze to death”, he thought and moved his chair closer to the window. He gazed up and froze his mouth agape. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw in the sky. The dark night sky was totally filled with meteors burning in the atmosphere. At any moment he could see at least two or three at the same time. This was absolutely the most amazing meteor shower he had ever seen. He had been to a few viewings with his parents when he had been younger but never had he seen anything like this. It was like the sky was putting up a fireworks show for all to see. It was, as Rainbow Dash would’ve said, totally awesome! Jonathan felt a small pang of regret when he looked up at the sky. He bet it would be even more amazing down at the park. Well worth a little chilliness, he thought. He wouldn’t have time to go to the town anymore as it would take him at least an hour by foot. Damn, how he wished they had a second car! “Well, perhaps I can’t go to the park anymore, but at least I can see them a little better outside”, Jonathan said aloud and went downstairs. He put on his jacket and gloves and opened the door to the backyard. He pulled a garden chair from the patio and sat down gaping at the stars above. He was a bit cold but the show above was worth some numb cheeks and ears. Jonathan sat there for about half an hour and the meteors weren’t showing any signs of an end. “It’s like the MLP episodes”, he thought. “Enough for a long, long time.” For a moment Jonathan’s eyes locked on to a single star at the far horizon. For some reason something about that star was strange. Jonathan wasn’t an expert but he was pretty sure stars weren’t supposed to grow larger. Yet this one was definitely getting bigger. “Getting bigger, or getting closer?” Jonathan’s mind was suddenly filled with silent panic. The star wasn’t a star! It was a meteor coming straight towards the Earth! What if it hits? If it was big enough, it could cause an explosion much larger than a nuclear bomb. “Well, at least there’s no chance it’s going to hit straight at our house, right?” Jonathan said to himself. “It’s probably not even going to come down. It’ll just burn before it gets even close to the ground, just like all the others… Right?!” Jonathan’s silent panic was far from silent now. The meteor was close enough for him to see it clearly. And it was, in fact heading straight towards him! “Okay feet. Now’s the time for a little maneuver called: RUN!” Jonathan shouted to himself, but his feet weren’t running. Fear had frozen Jonathan to place and even if he started running now, he knew he wouldn’t make it far before the meteorite hit. He was done for and he knew it. He could see the rock coming closer and hear the whistling sound it made as it fell towards the place he stood on. “Mummy…” was the only thing Jonathan had time to whimper before the stone hit the ground about three feet from where he stood. - - - Jonathan opened his eyes slowly. He was still at his backyard standing on the now half-melted snow. He raised his hands and stared at them in amazement. “I – I’m alive?” he asked in disbelief. He felt his legs and torso carefully with his hands. “I’m… Alive! I’m actually, one hundred percent, completely alive!” He shouted out in awe. As far as Jonathan knew, he was the only person ever to survive such a close encounter with a meteorite. At least he had never seen anything in the news or the internet about someone being practically hit by a meteorite and living to tell the tale. “Oh. My. God, NO!” Jonathan exclaimed as he looked down on the ground where the meteorite had landed. It had opened a hole to the ground around three feet across and about a foot deep. It had practically ruined the lawn of the backyard garden Jonathan’s mother worked every summer to keep in top shape. Naturally, since his mother held the garden so close to her heart, like another child, Jonathan too had a feeling as if it was not the garden lawn but a brother or a sister being hurt. They had worked together with his mother planting the flowers and nurturing the garden as best as they could and now it was ruined. Ripped open by some stupid rock. His mother would be devastated. The hole wasn’t irreparable but they would still always know that was the spot the meteorite hit, and it would always have a scar in their eyes. Of course Jonathan realized the garden wasn’t a person but he loved it all the same. After about a minute of grieving for the garden and almost shedding a tear for it, Jonathan decided to approach the crater and see if there was any sign of the stone left or if it had broken to tiny shrapnel when it had hit the ground. He walked around the small mound of dirt the impact had raised and looked into the hole in the ground. To Jonathan’s amazement the rock was still intact. It was a bit less than five inches wide and shaped like some sort of a disc. And what was the most interesting thing about the stone was not its shape or the fact that it was still in one piece after the impact, but the strange greenish glow it emitted and the low humming that could be heard. It was almost hypnotizing. Entranced, Jonathan lowered his hand towards the disc and for some reason the pulsating light grew brighter and the hum louder. Jonathan’s fingers were only inches away from the stone when the disc suddenly flashed brightly and emitted a crackling sparkle that hit Jonathan’s index finger. The sudden spark startled Jonathan and he jumped backwards only to trip on a small piece of rock hidden under the snow right behind his heel. He fell on his back with a small shout and hit his head on the ground. Everything went dark for a moment. When Jonathan opened his eyes he was still lying on the soft snow looking up at the dark sky. The first thing he noticed was that the sky was totally dark, not a meteor anywhere to be seen. He found it a bit strange for the meteors to stop falling this abruptly but didn’t think of it longer and stood up only to find the meteor-made crater missing. “What the…” he started but then the sudden feeling of nausea filled his stomach and the next thing he knew was being on his knees throwing up. “Well, I guess that’s to be expected since I hit my head”, he thought and got up. Jonathan started to walk towards the house with a splitting headache that suddenly hit him like a hammer. “Ugh… Straight to bed it is…” he said as he opened the backdoor. He went first to the medicine cabinet to grab an aspirin and then walked upstairs where he fell on his bed without even closing his computer first. Jonathan was asleep in less than two minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: While reading this fic please bear in mind that this is the first story I've ever written. Any and all advice and criticism is appreciated and seriously welcomed but please make it polite. If you notice any mistakes in the text, please comment and let me know so I can fix them. And don't forget to rate! :) Chapter 2In My Dreams Chapter 2 Jonathan woke up on a bed. He knew instantly that it wasn’t his own. He had slept enough nights on his own bed to know the difference. Jonathan’s head felt like it had been wrapped with cotton and his tongue felt at least three times its size. For some reason Jonathan couldn’t open his eyes enough to see where he was. Had he been abducted? Had somebody sneaked into the house last night and now he was being held hostage for a ransom? Somehow he doubted that. The bed was way too comfortable for something you’d put a hostage on. Jonathan could hear some sort of beeping. It sounded like an EKG from those hospital series his mother liked to watch. Was he in a hospital? Had his falling on the backyard cracked his skull and now he was in a coma or something? Different scenarios raced through his head when he suddenly heard a door opening. There were steps coming closer to his bed, four pairs of feet by the sound of it. “Has there been any change in the patient’s condition, nurse Redheart?” Jonathan could hear a male voice asking a few feet away. Had the voice just said nurse Redheart? Where had Jonathan heard that name before? He couldn’t figure out. His head felt like it started spinning if he thought too much. “No doctor, he’s been asleep ever since he was brought in. He had a nasty cut on the back of his head and he had suffered a mild concussion but other than that he should be alright”, said a female voice, probably nurse Redheart. “A concussion? Well at least it was nothing more serious”, Jonathan thought. Then he heard nurse Redheart continue in a lower voice. She actually sounded a bit intimidated. “Um… Doctor? What do you suppose he is exactly?” What did she mean “what is he”? Jonathan thought. As far as he knew, he was a human. Couldn’t this nurse see it? Was she blind or something? “I – I have absolutely no idea, nurse Redheart”, the doctor replied. “But as long as he doesn’t show any signs of hostility, we’ll keep on taking care of him.” Now Jonathan was a little scared. What did they mean with that? Didn’t he look like a human? Why? He wanted to stand up and shout at them: “I’m a human! Can’t you see?!” but all he could manage was a barely audible “hmmmnngh” and a frown. “Oh dear!” nurse Redheart exclaimed. “He seems to be awake.” “So it would seem”, the doctor agreed. He stepped a little closer and Jonathan assumed the nurse had followed since he could hear two footsteps coming closer. “Can you hear me? Can you understand what I’m saying?” the doctor asked articulating his words very slowly and clearly as if Jonathan was a foreigner who couldn’t understand English. “Hmmnnh”, was the only form of an answer Jonathan could muster. The doctor sighed. “It seems he’s still too weak to give any kind of an understandable answer”, he said to nurse Redheart and then continued towards Jonathan. “You’re in a hospital. You had an accident but you’re going to be okay. We will take care of you.” He said this very slowly again and Jonathan was completely baffled. Why did the doctor think Jonathan couldn’t understand English? What was going on here? The footsteps, all four pairs of them, walked away and Jonathan was left alone in the room. “Well, as long as I’m here, I guess I should sleep this headache off”, Jonathan thought as the excruciating headache was back again. He calmed his mind and fell asleep. - - - He had slept for what felt about a few hours before he heard footsteps again. This time only two people. “Hello again, this is nurse Redheart. I’m here to check on you. Are you able to speak yet?” the familiar voice of the nurse asked. Where had he heard that name before? Jonathan’s tongue actually felt a few sizes smaller this time and he was able to open his mouth and give the nurse an answer. “Yes, I’m able to speak”, Jonathan said. “Would you mind telling me where I am?” “Oh, I’m so glad you’re feeling better, mister. We were really worried about you when you were brought in. You had a nasty looking cut on the back of your head but we patched you up so no worries about that. We here in the Ponyville hospital have some of the best doctors of all of Equestria. You should be fine in just a few more days”, the nurse said. Something in her words seemed to trigger Jonathan’s brains back into working condition. Suddenly the EKG’s beeping got faster as Jonathan’s heart started racing in his chest. Had the nurse just said Ponyville? And Equestria?! All of a sudden there was no doubt in his mind where he had heard the name nurse Redheart before. His eyes flew open in disbelief and surely enough before him stood in four hooves the white nurse pony of Ponyville hospital. Everything he had heard during the previous visit made suddenly sense. Of course the nurse hadn’t known what Jonathan was and of course they wouldn’t assume he spoke English. He was a completely different species from them! He was a human and these were ponies! He had thought four people had entered the room previously, because ponies walked on four hooves instead of two legs like humans and this time he had thought there were two people instead of just one pony because he had heard the sound of two pairs of steps! “What in the name of...?” Jonathan exclaimed and suddenly felt very lightheaded. “I think I’m going to be sick”, he said. “Oh dear! Still feeling bad?” the nurse said and quickly pulled out a bucket and gave it to Jonathan. Jonathan took the bucket but suddenly the feeling of nausea was gone and replaced by pure amazement and immeasurable happiness. He was in Equestria! He was inside the very TV-show he had watched and loved for the last couple of years! Jonathan dropped the bucket and just smiled. He had no idea why or how he had gotten there but the simple fact that he had, was enough to fill his heart with unbelievable joy. “How in the world did I get here?” Jonathan wondered aloud as he looked at nurse Redheart. She was exactly like in the show. White coat, light pink mane and tail, a nurse hat and a cutie mark picturing a red cross with pink hearts in each corner. “Well. I was actually hoping you could tell me, mister…?” Redheart asked quizzingly. “Oh! Jonathan! My name is Jonathan.” the boy answered still wearing that silly smile on his face. “Well nice to meet you, Mister Jonathan”, the white mare said with a smile. “Umm… Not to be offensive or anything but… What species are you exactly, Mister Jonathan?” she asked. “Um… I’m a human actually. I suppose you don’t have any humans here?” Jonathan replied already guessing the answer. “No, I don’t think we do. But that can be just me. I’m only a small town nurse. There must be some species I haven’t heard of”, Redheart answered and looked thoughtfully to her patient. “Do you have any information on how you ended up in the fields outside Ponyville with a concussion and a cut in your head, Mister Jonathan?” she asked. “Honestly, I have no idea, Miss Redheart. I was watching the meteor shower at home in my backyard when this small piece of rock hit the ground. I touched the rock and it hit me with some kind of a lightning. The spark made me fall back and that’s when I hit my head. I wasn’t feeling very well so I just went to sleep and the next thing I knew was waking up here. And by all means please just call me Jonathan. I’m not used to being called Mister”, Jonathan answered. He wasn’t sure if the meteorite had anything to do with his arrival here but it seemed to be the most logical answer. “Only if you won’t call me Miss Redheart”, she said with a little laugh and a wink. “Just Redheart is fine, or nurse Redheart, whichever pleases you, Jonathan. Now, where exactly is home, if you don’t mind me asking? I still have to fill your files.” “I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, if that means anything to you”, Jonathan said assuming the nurse had no idea where Philadelphia was. Instead the nurse’s eyes lit up as if she’d heard the name of someplace familiar. “Oh, do you mean Fillydelphia? I used to live there for a short while before I came to Ponyville. Where in Fillydelphia do you live, if I may ask? I’ve never heard of any humans in there”, she asked enthusiastically. Of course, nurse Redheart had thought Jonathan meant Fillydelphia instead of Philadelphia since the names were so similar. “No, I didn’t mean Fillydelphia. I meant Philadelphia which is in the state of Pennsylvania in America on a planet called Earth. I don’t think you’ve ever visited another planet, have you?” Jonathan explained with an amused smile. “Well… No I haven’t. The names were just so similar I thought I just misheard you saying Fillydelphia… Hold on… Did you say another planet? How in Equestria is that even possible?” the nurse was astonished by this information. “I think you should probably talk to our librarian about this. She’s really clever and all so she might have an idea of what’s happened. I can send somepony to fetch her if you’d like.” “Umm… This might sound a little bit weird but is your librarian’s name by any chance Twilight Sparkle?” Jonathan asked. He didn’t think it would actually be possible to wake up in a place exactly like the show but everything else had matched up so far so why not this? “Actually yes! It is her name. Do you know her? Oh wouldn’t it be just great if there was somepony here you actually knew from before?” nurse Redheart answered happily. “Yeah, well. I don’t actually know her. I just kind of know of her”, Jonathan said with a smile. Twilight Sparkle was actually here? This would be so awesome! “Well, I guess she is a bit of a celebrity, being the element of magic and the princess’ personal protégé”, nurse Redheart laughed. “Would you like to see her? I could go ask her myself if she could come over.” “Yeah. I think she might have some kind of an idea about all this”, Jonathan answered with a joyful grin. This was the most perfect day of his life! - - - The nurse had left Jonathan about an hour ago and said she’d go straight to the library to see when Twilight would have time for a visit. Assuming that Twilight would run straight to the hospital if she’d hear there was someone of a different species, not to mention a sentient species, there, he figured nurse Redheart hadn’t told twilight exactly what she had waiting for him. Jonathan was barely able to finish his last thought before the door was flung open and a very excited Twilight Sparkle rushed in. “Ohmygosgohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Twilight shouted in amazement as she saw Jonathan lying on the bed staring into her eyes. “I don't believe it! She wasn’t kidding! It really IS another species! And it really DOES look like a monkey! This is SO COOL!!!” Twilight rushed to the bed and immediately started poking Jonathan everywhere over his body, lifting his arms and legs and even blowing in his ear to see his reaction. The action mentioned last made Jonathan laugh. “Hey! Hahaha! Stop it! That tickles!” Jonathan laughed, or once again giggled, but let’s not go to that. “AND IT SPEAKS TOO!” Twilight seemed to fall in some kind of scientifical ecstasy after this discovery. “Um… Hello? Miss Sparkle?” Jonathan asked and waved a hand at Twilight. She too was exactly like in the show. Light purple coat and the triple colored mane and tail. She was every bit like in MLP down to the pink-ish star on her flank surrounded by five smaller white stars. Jonathan waving his hand seemed to break the haze the purple mare was in. She took a deep breath and just stared at Jonathan for a moment with a look of disbelief on her face. Suddenly her face turned beetroot red and she looked down as if she was ashamed of herself. “Please tell me I didn’t just blow in your ear…” she said in a barely audible voice. “You sure did”, Jonathan replied with a small laugh. “Oh no. I’m so terribly, terribly sorry! I don’t know what came over me! When nurse Redheart said that you weren’t a pony but something completely different I just lost it. Can you ever forgive me? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t”, she explained with actual tears in her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry about it miss Sparkle”, Jonathan said with a wave of a hand. “In fact the only thing keeping me from screaming out of joy for actually meeting you is this cursed headache I’m still having from the concussion. “Meeting me? Joy? Why would you want to meet… me?” Twilight asked astonished. Now it was Jonathan’s turn to go red. He had no idea how to explain to Twilight how he knew her so he decided not to, at least not yet. “Well, you know. You are a big celebrity being one of the elements of harmony and all. Everybody would be honored to actually meet you in person”, Jonathan tried to escape further questions. “Oh please, I’m not that big of a celebrity”, Twilight said drawing circles on the floor with her hoof. Then she suddenly looked straight at Jonathan’s eyes. “Hold on… Nurse Redheart said you told her you were from another planet. I know I might be… well… known in Equestria but somehow I don’t believe somepony on another planet could have any information about me. I am a clever pony mister and I know when somepony is not telling me the truth. What are you hiding exactly?” “Oh boy… This will be trouble…” Jonathan thought as he smiled sheepishly to Twilight and wondered how she would take what he was about to tell her. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: Once again please comment to give me any kind of criticism or tell me about any mistakes you might have found. I'm really liking the writing so far, I just hope I can keep this one in some kind of frames. Please rate! :) Chapter 3In My Dreams Chapter 3 Twilight looked at Jonathan with a stunned face. Her eyes were, if possible, even wider than usual. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as if trying to say something but no voice came out. “Um… Twilight?” Jonathan asked. “Are you… okay?” Jonathan knew what he had just told Twilight must’ve been a shock to the lavender pony. It’s not every day that you hear you’re a cartoon character from a kids’ TV-show. Twilight forced her eyes closed and shook her head a few times. Then she looked at Jonathan with serious eyes. “Tha- That’s not possible”, she whispered and looked at Jonathan almost as if pleading for him to burst out in laughter and say it was all just a joke, but Jonathan just looked back at him with an apologetic gaze that said it was all true. “I’m sorry Twilight. I truly am, but it’s true. Where I come from, lots of people watch your adventures every day”, Jonathan replied and continues. “Look, I don’t know how this is possible. I don’t even know how I got here, but for what it’s worth, this feels very much real to me. I’m sure I’m not dreaming this all. That has to mean that you’re real, right?” Jonathan hoped he could have made up some sort of lie instead of telling her everything, but he knew Twilight would have figured out he wasn’t telling the truth. Suddenly Twilight got back on her hooves and turned to leave. She glanced back at Jonathan. “I’m sorry Jonathan. I need to think about this, but I’ll come back later, I promise. Do you think you could keep this a secret from everypony else for now?” she asked. “Of course, Twilight. I won’t tell anyone… Um… Anypony, I mean”, Jonathan replied and smiled. Then suddenly remembering something he called to Twilight. “Uh. I forgot I already told nurse Redheart I’m from another planet.” “That’s okay. I’ll ask her not to tell anypony. I’m sure she’ll understand”, Twilight said and started walking away. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night”, she said as she closed the door. - - - Jonathan glanced out the window next to his bed. It was already evening. He couldn’t tell precisely what time it was since there was no clock in the room but it had to be at least eight. It had taken quite some time to tell the story to Twilight. Luckily Twilight hadn’t insisted on asking questions concerning humans. It was actually pretty weird considering how excited Twilight had been when she first saw Jonathan. The news must’ve been quite a shock to make Twilight act so unlike herself. It had only been a couple of minutes after Twilight left until a knock was heard on the door and nurse Redheart stepped in, followed by the doctor. The doctor was a light yellowish colored unicorn who wore a white doctor’s jacket that almost covered up his cutie mark, which was a heart monitor. He had a light brown mane and tail and wore glasses on his muzzle. The nurse had a tray in her teeth and she carefully placed it on the table next to Jonathan. “Here’s your dinner, Jonathan”, she said. “Sorry it’s a bit late but I didn’t want to disturb your chat with Twilight.” The doctor stepped closer holding a chart that apparently had Jonathan’s patient information in it. “Well, I’m glad that you’re awake and able to speak again Mister. My name is doctor Stable. How are you feeling?” he asked looking at Jonathan over the chart. “I’m feeling better, thank you”, Jonathan replied when suddenly a large yawn caught him completely without warning. The doctor chuckled slightly. “Well, I think we’d best not disturb you for much longer. I’m just going to do a quick checkup and then we’ll leave you to rest. I’m sure you’ve had a tiring day.” He stepped closer and flipped a page on the chart he had in his hooves. “Okay. Let us begin then. Since you had a concussion, I’ll have to do a few eye-hand coordination tests to make sure your brain’s functioning as it should. Could you please lift your right hand for me?” Jonathan did and the doctor scribbled a check mark on the page. “Okay, now the left one if you’d please.” The tests continued as the doctor asked Jonathan to do other simple tasks with his hands first checking the chart after each one and occasionally writing side notes. Then he pulled out a small flashlight from a pocket on his jacket and quickly checked Jonathan’s pupil reaction. After a few more tests which included Jonathan covering one of his eyes and reciting the letters on a poster on the wall, touching each of his fingers with his thumb and rather oddly, picking up the cup on his food tray and placing it down again several times. After about ten minutes the doctor finally flipped back to the first page of the chart. “Well, it seems everything is in order as far as I can tell. I’m not completely certain of course since you’re the first one of your kind I’ve ever treated. Just to make sure you don’t have any latent injuries or symptoms we might have missed, I’d like to keep you here for one more day if that’s all right. You’ll be released the morning after tomorrow if nothing special comes up. Does that sound okay?” the doctor asked and placed the chart on a hook at the end of Jonathan’s bed. “Sounds okay to me, doctor”, Jonathan said. “Oh, by the way. What day is it now?” he asked the doctor. “It’s Monday, third of September. You were found late Saturday morning and were unconscious for the whole of yesterday”, the doctor replied. “Okay. Thanks, doctor”, Jonathan said suddenly feeling a knot tighten inside him. He’d been away for three whole days! His parents must be out of their minds worrying for him. That’s, of course, assuming time flowed at the same speed in Equestria as it did on Earth. He had to get back soon or at least get a word through to them that he’s all right. But how in the world would that be possible? He didn’t know how or why he’d gotten here, and he had absolutely no idea how to get back home. “Maybe Twilight will find a way for me to get back. I’m sure if somepony will, it’ll be her”, he thought as the doctor took his leave. He heard nurse Redheart clearing her throat and realized he must’ve been in his thoughts for a moment. “If you need anything, just ring the bell on your nightstand and somepony will come see you. Is there something I could do for you right now?” the nurse asked giving a kind smile. “Umm… Did Twilight happen to say anything to you on her way out?” Jonathan asked, already half guessing the answer. If Twilight said she’d do something, Jonathan could be sure it would be taken care of. He just wanted to make sure. Twilight had been in a slight daze when she’d left the room so it would be completely understandable if she’d forgotten. “Oh. Yes. In fact she did”, the nurse said and gave a wide grin. “Don’t worry Jonathan. I won’t tell a soul.” “Thank you, nurse Redheart. I’d rather keep my origins a secret for now and I think Twilight would appreciate it too. At least until we figure out how I got here, and if…” Jonathan paused. The true severity of the situation finally hit him, hard. Jonathan realized he was actually on a strange planet, millions of miles away from home. Perhaps even in a different universe. He was a stranger here. He knew nothing of this place, except for what he’d seen on the show, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he should think of it as a reliable source of information. There had to be more to Equestria than what was in the show. He had no way of getting back home. He might never see his parents or friends again. He even missed the sounds and smells of his school. Everything familiar was totally, utterly gone. Everything he had ever known was just, not there anymore. Jonathan felt alone. Alone and lost. He had gotten lost in the woods around his house once, but even then he knew that if he’d just find a way out of the woods, he’d know exactly where he was and could be home in minutes. Now though, he was so far from home, the word “lost” wasn’t enough to cover the half of what it felt like. Jonathan was scared. Scared for himself, but also for his parents. He didn’t know how they’d deal with the loss of their only child. He knew if he was in their situation, he couldn’t handle it. He would be devastated beyond words. Suddenly something unleashed inside him. He felt his eyes filling with tears as he looked straight into nurse Redheart’s sapphire blue eyes. Jonathan shifted his look down upon his hands and brought them to his face. He lowered his head and started to sob. First lightly, but when he felt the nurse’s soft hooves wrap comfortingly around him, the dam broke. He started straight out weeping. Crying like he never had before. Jonathan pressed himself closer to the pony hugging him and cried his heart out. Nurse Redheart just stood on her hind legs, wrapping her forelegs around the boy, and hushed quietly. She knew what Jonathan must be feeling was something immeasurable. She’d cried when she’d first left her home for the medical school in Fillydelphia, but Jonathan hadn’t just left his home for school. No, he had been torn away from everything dear to him. Nurse Redheart wanted to do everything to help this young human, but right now, all she could do was to be there for him. She couldn’t make everything better but she could try to help Jonathan get through his grief, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Whatever problems he might have, she decided she would be there for him. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: Sorry about the long gap between these last two chapters. I've been having a lot of school work lately and haven't found the time to write. I'll try to update more frequently from now on. I'm aiming for one chapter per two weeks at first and when I get my school work up to date, I'll try to narrow it down to one chapter per week. This one turned out to be a little shorter than the two previous chapters, but I think I managed to write everything I needed to. Give me your opinions about the chapter lengths. Do you think the chapters should be longer or is the current length okay? I also realized that while Microsoft Word is an excellent tool for writing and finding mistakes, it hardly notices everything. That is why I would really like to get someone or maybe even few someones to proofread the chapters before I publish them. Punctuation has never been my slice of pie so someone correcting my mistakes with the commas and periods and stuff would be just awesome. If you're interested, send me a PM and we'll chat about it. :) Once again, if you notice any mistakes, comment and tell me so I can fix them. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, I know I've enjoyed writing it. It's as much an adventure for me as it is for anyone else. I'm starting to get a more solid picture in my mind of where this will be going. If you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to give me a shout. Thank you for reading and don't forget to rate :)
Chapter 1In My Dreams Chapter 1 ”So, what’s happening tonight?” Mike asked as he walked towards the bus stop with his friend Jonathan after school on a Friday afternoon. “I dunno. Probably nothing. At least I don’t have any homework so I’ll probably just go home and spend the night watching TV”, Jonathan replied with a monotonic voice. “Oh, what’re you watching? Maybe I can come around later and we can watch something together. We could even rent a movie”, Mike said. He already had the perfect movie in mind. He had seen it before, but would gladly watch it again with his best friend. But instead of accepting the idea with enthusiasm like Mike had expected, Jonathan looked down towards the asphalt and said: “Actually, I’ve kind of already decided what I’m going to watch, and I have a feeling it’s not exactly your ‘thing’, if you know what I’m saying.” “Oh, that’s okay. I’m open for new stuff. So what are we watching?” Mike asked interested. He knew Jonathan liked anime so probably it was something like that. He didn’t really like anime himself but he wasn’t totally against it either. Jonathan looked a bit troubled and thought to himself. “Well it was bound to come out sooner or later, might as well be now.” “I found this series a few years back and I really liked it”, he said still shying away a bit. “It’s called MLP.” “MLP? Never heard of that”, Mike sounded like the name rang a bell somewhere in his mind but he couldn’t figure out where he’d heard the name before. “Oh, you know the series all right”, Jonathan said with a bit louder voice. “Everybody knows it by now. You know, MLP as in My Little Pony.” “Um… Sorry, come again?” Mike asked. He must’ve heard wrong. Jonathan couldn’t have seriously said he liked to watch a show about little colorful ponies adventuring in a cartoon world. “You heard me right”, Jonathan sighed. He just knew Mike wouldn’t take the news well. “MLP as in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, he said louder this time just to make sure Mike understood. “You have got to be kidding me!” Mike gave a shout and facepalmed. “You’re watching THAT show?” Mike hadn’t actually seen any episodes of the show but he had a pretty good idea from what other people had said about it. He couldn’t believe his best friend actually watched the show every other boy in their class basically hated and despised. “Yeah, I watch it! And guess what? I like it!” Jonathan shouted back, louder than he had originally meant to. He didn’t know why he had gotten angry all of a sudden. Mike’s reaction had been exactly as he’d expected. First disbelief, then a facepalm, he was prone to facepalms. Disgust would follow soon and then Jonathan knew he would’ve lost basically the only friend he had. Just because he liked a certain TV-show. “Whoa, there”, Mike said and raised his hands in a protective manner. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t think you liked that kind of things. I’m not judging or anything.” Jonathan was stunned. Mike wasn’t judging him? He didn’t mean to shoot him down for liking the show? This was a bit unexpected. “But..?” Jonathan asked waiting for more. “But. You were right. It’s really not my kind of thing. So how about we watch the movie some other night. I can see you have the evening planned for tonight”, Mike laughed. He wasn’t laughing at Jonathan. He just found the whole situation a bit amusing. “You… still want to be my friend even though I watch My Little Pony?” Jonathan asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mike actually didn’t care and he still wanted to watch the movie with Jonathan? “Well duh...” Mike said and rolled his eyes. “It’s not like a TV-show could stop me from being your friend Johnny, no matter how… questionable a TV-show it was.” Jonathan felt like hugging Mike. Luckily he realized how strange that would have looked like. Instead he just beamed at him and said: “Thank you, Mike.” - - - “My Little Pony! I used to wonder what friendship could be!” Jonathan was alone in his room the opening of MLP playing on his computer screen. He had his headphones on so his parents wouldn’t hear what he was watching. They didn’t know, and as far as Jonathan was considered, they didn’t need to know. It was his life and he watched whatever he wanted. No questions asked. Jonathan was still smiling happily. He had been ever since his confession to Mike. He had known he’d have to tell Mike at some point, and frankly, it had been scary as hell. He knew what the major population thought about grown men watching children’s cartoons. He was eighteen years old and fit perfectly to the definition of a “brony” as the internet slang referred to older MLP fans these days. As far as he knew, bronies were thought as a disgrace to the human race and hated throughout the world. He knew he wasn’t the only teenage boy who liked the show and he was even sure some of the boys in his school secretly watched the show. Still, confessing he liked the show to someone had been scary… so terrifying he didn’t know how he had made it out of the situation without wetting himself or started crying. But he was glad it was over and even better, his friend had accepted it and wanted to be his friend even after he knew! This had to be the best day ever. Tonight’s episode had been just as great as every single one before it. The show was well across its fifth season and it didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Johnny knew that the show had almost been finished after its third season but then a group of bronies who had experience in the business had come out and continued the series even further. They said that they were nowhere near the end of the show yet and that they had enough ideas for at least five more seasons. The news was welcomed with unbelievable cheers and applauds at the 2014 Bronycon. Jonathan had been there too, secretly of course. His parents had thought he was visiting a friend in New York at the time. “Honey! We’re heading off now! Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Jonathan’s mother shouted from downstairs. “Yeah, mom, I’m sure! Have fun!” Jonathan shouted back. His parents were going to the park to see the meteor shower like everyone else in the town. They said in the news that it would be the largest meteor shower for the last thousand years and that there wasn’t any information when another one this big was going to occur, so naturally everyone wanted to see it. Everyone except for Jonathan. Frankly, he didn’t care about some meteors enough to spend the night at the park freezing to death. Even though it was only October, the nights could get extremely cold and the viewing was probably going to take at least four or five hours. “Enough to get hypothermia”, Jonathan thought. So while his parents left towards the town, Jonathan was sitting in his room watching old episodes of MLP and reading fan-written stories on the internet. Little did he know what kind of effects the meteor shower would have on his life. That is to say, his life would never be the same after that night… - - - Jonathan was laughing. Well… actually more like giggling but he would never be heard using that particular word about the way he laughed. The episode he had watched always made him laugh uncontrollably for some reason. It was the one about Applejack’s rodeo competition failure. He always broke out laughing when he saw Pinkie Pie finding out AJ had broken a pinkie promise. Her face was priceless! It had been almost three hours since Jonathan’s parents had left for the meteor viewing and Jonathan was sure they’d be out for at least an hour or so, maybe even more. His parents were amateur astronomists and there was no chance they would let an opportunity like this slip by. Jonathan thought it was pretty stupid, gazing at the stars and hoping you see something interesting. To Jonathan the stars were always the same. Every time he looked up at night he would only see small bright dots, nothing more. Sometimes he thought his parents were crazy being such fanatics but then he remembered that he was just as obsessed about MLP. Most people would probably label him crazy if they knew about his obsession. Jonathan was just about to play the next episode, “Luna Eclipsed”, when suddenly he saw something bright in the sky behind his window. “Well, I guess I could watch the meteors from my window for a while. At least I won’t freeze to death”, he thought and moved his chair closer to the window. He gazed up and froze his mouth agape. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw in the sky. The dark night sky was totally filled with meteors burning in the atmosphere. At any moment he could see at least two or three at the same time. This was absolutely the most amazing meteor shower he had ever seen. He had been to a few viewings with his parents when he had been younger but never had he seen anything like this. It was like the sky was putting up a fireworks show for all to see. It was, as Rainbow Dash would’ve said, totally awesome! Jonathan felt a small pang of regret when he looked up at the sky. He bet it would be even more amazing down at the park. Well worth a little chilliness, he thought. He wouldn’t have time to go to the town anymore as it would take him at least an hour by foot. Damn, how he wished they had a second car! “Well, perhaps I can’t go to the park anymore, but at least I can see them a little better outside”, Jonathan said aloud and went downstairs. He put on his jacket and gloves and opened the door to the backyard. He pulled a garden chair from the patio and sat down gaping at the stars above. He was a bit cold but the show above was worth some numb cheeks and ears. Jonathan sat there for about half an hour and the meteors weren’t showing any signs of an end. “It’s like the MLP episodes”, he thought. “Enough for a long, long time.” For a moment Jonathan’s eyes locked on to a single star at the far horizon. For some reason something about that star was strange. Jonathan wasn’t an expert but he was pretty sure stars weren’t supposed to grow larger. Yet this one was definitely getting bigger. “Getting bigger, or getting closer?” Jonathan’s mind was suddenly filled with silent panic. The star wasn’t a star! It was a meteor coming straight towards the Earth! What if it hits? If it was big enough, it could cause an explosion much larger than a nuclear bomb. “Well, at least there’s no chance it’s going to hit straight at our house, right?” Jonathan said to himself. “It’s probably not even going to come down. It’ll just burn before it gets even close to the ground, just like all the others… Right?!” Jonathan’s silent panic was far from silent now. The meteor was close enough for him to see it clearly. And it was, in fact heading straight towards him! “Okay feet. Now’s the time for a little maneuver called: RUN!” Jonathan shouted to himself, but his feet weren’t running. Fear had frozen Jonathan to place and even if he started running now, he knew he wouldn’t make it far before the meteorite hit. He was done for and he knew it. He could see the rock coming closer and hear the whistling sound it made as it fell towards the place he stood on. “Mummy…” was the only thing Jonathan had time to whimper before the stone hit the ground about three feet from where he stood. - - - Jonathan opened his eyes slowly. He was still at his backyard standing on the now half-melted snow. He raised his hands and stared at them in amazement. “I – I’m alive?” he asked in disbelief. He felt his legs and torso carefully with his hands. “I’m… Alive! I’m actually, one hundred percent, completely alive!” He shouted out in awe. As far as Jonathan knew, he was the only person ever to survive such a close encounter with a meteorite. At least he had never seen anything in the news or the internet about someone being practically hit by a meteorite and living to tell the tale. “Oh. My. God, NO!” Jonathan exclaimed as he looked down on the ground where the meteorite had landed. It had opened a hole to the ground around three feet across and about a foot deep. It had practically ruined the lawn of the backyard garden Jonathan’s mother worked every summer to keep in top shape. Naturally, since his mother held the garden so close to her heart, like another child, Jonathan too had a feeling as if it was not the garden lawn but a brother or a sister being hurt. They had worked together with his mother planting the flowers and nurturing the garden as best as they could and now it was ruined. Ripped open by some stupid rock. His mother would be devastated. The hole wasn’t irreparable but they would still always know that was the spot the meteorite hit, and it would always have a scar in their eyes. Of course Jonathan realized the garden wasn’t a person but he loved it all the same. After about a minute of grieving for the garden and almost shedding a tear for it, Jonathan decided to approach the crater and see if there was any sign of the stone left or if it had broken to tiny shrapnel when it had hit the ground. He walked around the small mound of dirt the impact had raised and looked into the hole in the ground. To Jonathan’s amazement the rock was still intact. It was a bit less than five inches wide and shaped like some sort of a disc. And what was the most interesting thing about the stone was not its shape or the fact that it was still in one piece after the impact, but the strange greenish glow it emitted and the low humming that could be heard. It was almost hypnotizing. Entranced, Jonathan lowered his hand towards the disc and for some reason the pulsating light grew brighter and the hum louder. Jonathan’s fingers were only inches away from the stone when the disc suddenly flashed brightly and emitted a crackling sparkle that hit Jonathan’s index finger. The sudden spark startled Jonathan and he jumped backwards only to trip on a small piece of rock hidden under the snow right behind his heel. He fell on his back with a small shout and hit his head on the ground. Everything went dark for a moment. When Jonathan opened his eyes he was still lying on the soft snow looking up at the dark sky. The first thing he noticed was that the sky was totally dark, not a meteor anywhere to be seen. He found it a bit strange for the meteors to stop falling this abruptly but didn’t think of it longer and stood up only to find the meteor-made crater missing. “What the…” he started but then the sudden feeling of nausea filled his stomach and the next thing he knew was being on his knees throwing up. “Well, I guess that’s to be expected since I hit my head”, he thought and got up. Jonathan started to walk towards the house with a splitting headache that suddenly hit him like a hammer. “Ugh… Straight to bed it is…” he said as he opened the backdoor. He went first to the medicine cabinet to grab an aspirin and then walked upstairs where he fell on his bed without even closing his computer first. Jonathan was asleep in less than two minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: While reading this fic please bear in mind that this is the first story I've ever written. Any and all advice and criticism is appreciated and seriously welcomed but please make it polite. If you notice any mistakes in the text, please comment and let me know so I can fix them. And don't forget to rate! :)
Chapter 2In My Dreams Chapter 2 Jonathan woke up on a bed. He knew instantly that it wasn’t his own. He had slept enough nights on his own bed to know the difference. Jonathan’s head felt like it had been wrapped with cotton and his tongue felt at least three times its size. For some reason Jonathan couldn’t open his eyes enough to see where he was. Had he been abducted? Had somebody sneaked into the house last night and now he was being held hostage for a ransom? Somehow he doubted that. The bed was way too comfortable for something you’d put a hostage on. Jonathan could hear some sort of beeping. It sounded like an EKG from those hospital series his mother liked to watch. Was he in a hospital? Had his falling on the backyard cracked his skull and now he was in a coma or something? Different scenarios raced through his head when he suddenly heard a door opening. There were steps coming closer to his bed, four pairs of feet by the sound of it. “Has there been any change in the patient’s condition, nurse Redheart?” Jonathan could hear a male voice asking a few feet away. Had the voice just said nurse Redheart? Where had Jonathan heard that name before? He couldn’t figure out. His head felt like it started spinning if he thought too much. “No doctor, he’s been asleep ever since he was brought in. He had a nasty cut on the back of his head and he had suffered a mild concussion but other than that he should be alright”, said a female voice, probably nurse Redheart. “A concussion? Well at least it was nothing more serious”, Jonathan thought. Then he heard nurse Redheart continue in a lower voice. She actually sounded a bit intimidated. “Um… Doctor? What do you suppose he is exactly?” What did she mean “what is he”? Jonathan thought. As far as he knew, he was a human. Couldn’t this nurse see it? Was she blind or something? “I – I have absolutely no idea, nurse Redheart”, the doctor replied. “But as long as he doesn’t show any signs of hostility, we’ll keep on taking care of him.” Now Jonathan was a little scared. What did they mean with that? Didn’t he look like a human? Why? He wanted to stand up and shout at them: “I’m a human! Can’t you see?!” but all he could manage was a barely audible “hmmmnngh” and a frown. “Oh dear!” nurse Redheart exclaimed. “He seems to be awake.” “So it would seem”, the doctor agreed. He stepped a little closer and Jonathan assumed the nurse had followed since he could hear two footsteps coming closer. “Can you hear me? Can you understand what I’m saying?” the doctor asked articulating his words very slowly and clearly as if Jonathan was a foreigner who couldn’t understand English. “Hmmnnh”, was the only form of an answer Jonathan could muster. The doctor sighed. “It seems he’s still too weak to give any kind of an understandable answer”, he said to nurse Redheart and then continued towards Jonathan. “You’re in a hospital. You had an accident but you’re going to be okay. We will take care of you.” He said this very slowly again and Jonathan was completely baffled. Why did the doctor think Jonathan couldn’t understand English? What was going on here? The footsteps, all four pairs of them, walked away and Jonathan was left alone in the room. “Well, as long as I’m here, I guess I should sleep this headache off”, Jonathan thought as the excruciating headache was back again. He calmed his mind and fell asleep. - - - He had slept for what felt about a few hours before he heard footsteps again. This time only two people. “Hello again, this is nurse Redheart. I’m here to check on you. Are you able to speak yet?” the familiar voice of the nurse asked. Where had he heard that name before? Jonathan’s tongue actually felt a few sizes smaller this time and he was able to open his mouth and give the nurse an answer. “Yes, I’m able to speak”, Jonathan said. “Would you mind telling me where I am?” “Oh, I’m so glad you’re feeling better, mister. We were really worried about you when you were brought in. You had a nasty looking cut on the back of your head but we patched you up so no worries about that. We here in the Ponyville hospital have some of the best doctors of all of Equestria. You should be fine in just a few more days”, the nurse said. Something in her words seemed to trigger Jonathan’s brains back into working condition. Suddenly the EKG’s beeping got faster as Jonathan’s heart started racing in his chest. Had the nurse just said Ponyville? And Equestria?! All of a sudden there was no doubt in his mind where he had heard the name nurse Redheart before. His eyes flew open in disbelief and surely enough before him stood in four hooves the white nurse pony of Ponyville hospital. Everything he had heard during the previous visit made suddenly sense. Of course the nurse hadn’t known what Jonathan was and of course they wouldn’t assume he spoke English. He was a completely different species from them! He was a human and these were ponies! He had thought four people had entered the room previously, because ponies walked on four hooves instead of two legs like humans and this time he had thought there were two people instead of just one pony because he had heard the sound of two pairs of steps! “What in the name of...?” Jonathan exclaimed and suddenly felt very lightheaded. “I think I’m going to be sick”, he said. “Oh dear! Still feeling bad?” the nurse said and quickly pulled out a bucket and gave it to Jonathan. Jonathan took the bucket but suddenly the feeling of nausea was gone and replaced by pure amazement and immeasurable happiness. He was in Equestria! He was inside the very TV-show he had watched and loved for the last couple of years! Jonathan dropped the bucket and just smiled. He had no idea why or how he had gotten there but the simple fact that he had, was enough to fill his heart with unbelievable joy. “How in the world did I get here?” Jonathan wondered aloud as he looked at nurse Redheart. She was exactly like in the show. White coat, light pink mane and tail, a nurse hat and a cutie mark picturing a red cross with pink hearts in each corner. “Well. I was actually hoping you could tell me, mister…?” Redheart asked quizzingly. “Oh! Jonathan! My name is Jonathan.” the boy answered still wearing that silly smile on his face. “Well nice to meet you, Mister Jonathan”, the white mare said with a smile. “Umm… Not to be offensive or anything but… What species are you exactly, Mister Jonathan?” she asked. “Um… I’m a human actually. I suppose you don’t have any humans here?” Jonathan replied already guessing the answer. “No, I don’t think we do. But that can be just me. I’m only a small town nurse. There must be some species I haven’t heard of”, Redheart answered and looked thoughtfully to her patient. “Do you have any information on how you ended up in the fields outside Ponyville with a concussion and a cut in your head, Mister Jonathan?” she asked. “Honestly, I have no idea, Miss Redheart. I was watching the meteor shower at home in my backyard when this small piece of rock hit the ground. I touched the rock and it hit me with some kind of a lightning. The spark made me fall back and that’s when I hit my head. I wasn’t feeling very well so I just went to sleep and the next thing I knew was waking up here. And by all means please just call me Jonathan. I’m not used to being called Mister”, Jonathan answered. He wasn’t sure if the meteorite had anything to do with his arrival here but it seemed to be the most logical answer. “Only if you won’t call me Miss Redheart”, she said with a little laugh and a wink. “Just Redheart is fine, or nurse Redheart, whichever pleases you, Jonathan. Now, where exactly is home, if you don’t mind me asking? I still have to fill your files.” “I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, if that means anything to you”, Jonathan said assuming the nurse had no idea where Philadelphia was. Instead the nurse’s eyes lit up as if she’d heard the name of someplace familiar. “Oh, do you mean Fillydelphia? I used to live there for a short while before I came to Ponyville. Where in Fillydelphia do you live, if I may ask? I’ve never heard of any humans in there”, she asked enthusiastically. Of course, nurse Redheart had thought Jonathan meant Fillydelphia instead of Philadelphia since the names were so similar. “No, I didn’t mean Fillydelphia. I meant Philadelphia which is in the state of Pennsylvania in America on a planet called Earth. I don’t think you’ve ever visited another planet, have you?” Jonathan explained with an amused smile. “Well… No I haven’t. The names were just so similar I thought I just misheard you saying Fillydelphia… Hold on… Did you say another planet? How in Equestria is that even possible?” the nurse was astonished by this information. “I think you should probably talk to our librarian about this. She’s really clever and all so she might have an idea of what’s happened. I can send somepony to fetch her if you’d like.” “Umm… This might sound a little bit weird but is your librarian’s name by any chance Twilight Sparkle?” Jonathan asked. He didn’t think it would actually be possible to wake up in a place exactly like the show but everything else had matched up so far so why not this? “Actually yes! It is her name. Do you know her? Oh wouldn’t it be just great if there was somepony here you actually knew from before?” nurse Redheart answered happily. “Yeah, well. I don’t actually know her. I just kind of know of her”, Jonathan said with a smile. Twilight Sparkle was actually here? This would be so awesome! “Well, I guess she is a bit of a celebrity, being the element of magic and the princess’ personal protégé”, nurse Redheart laughed. “Would you like to see her? I could go ask her myself if she could come over.” “Yeah. I think she might have some kind of an idea about all this”, Jonathan answered with a joyful grin. This was the most perfect day of his life! - - - The nurse had left Jonathan about an hour ago and said she’d go straight to the library to see when Twilight would have time for a visit. Assuming that Twilight would run straight to the hospital if she’d hear there was someone of a different species, not to mention a sentient species, there, he figured nurse Redheart hadn’t told twilight exactly what she had waiting for him. Jonathan was barely able to finish his last thought before the door was flung open and a very excited Twilight Sparkle rushed in. “Ohmygosgohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Twilight shouted in amazement as she saw Jonathan lying on the bed staring into her eyes. “I don't believe it! She wasn’t kidding! It really IS another species! And it really DOES look like a monkey! This is SO COOL!!!” Twilight rushed to the bed and immediately started poking Jonathan everywhere over his body, lifting his arms and legs and even blowing in his ear to see his reaction. The action mentioned last made Jonathan laugh. “Hey! Hahaha! Stop it! That tickles!” Jonathan laughed, or once again giggled, but let’s not go to that. “AND IT SPEAKS TOO!” Twilight seemed to fall in some kind of scientifical ecstasy after this discovery. “Um… Hello? Miss Sparkle?” Jonathan asked and waved a hand at Twilight. She too was exactly like in the show. Light purple coat and the triple colored mane and tail. She was every bit like in MLP down to the pink-ish star on her flank surrounded by five smaller white stars. Jonathan waving his hand seemed to break the haze the purple mare was in. She took a deep breath and just stared at Jonathan for a moment with a look of disbelief on her face. Suddenly her face turned beetroot red and she looked down as if she was ashamed of herself. “Please tell me I didn’t just blow in your ear…” she said in a barely audible voice. “You sure did”, Jonathan replied with a small laugh. “Oh no. I’m so terribly, terribly sorry! I don’t know what came over me! When nurse Redheart said that you weren’t a pony but something completely different I just lost it. Can you ever forgive me? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t”, she explained with actual tears in her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry about it miss Sparkle”, Jonathan said with a wave of a hand. “In fact the only thing keeping me from screaming out of joy for actually meeting you is this cursed headache I’m still having from the concussion. “Meeting me? Joy? Why would you want to meet… me?” Twilight asked astonished. Now it was Jonathan’s turn to go red. He had no idea how to explain to Twilight how he knew her so he decided not to, at least not yet. “Well, you know. You are a big celebrity being one of the elements of harmony and all. Everybody would be honored to actually meet you in person”, Jonathan tried to escape further questions. “Oh please, I’m not that big of a celebrity”, Twilight said drawing circles on the floor with her hoof. Then she suddenly looked straight at Jonathan’s eyes. “Hold on… Nurse Redheart said you told her you were from another planet. I know I might be… well… known in Equestria but somehow I don’t believe somepony on another planet could have any information about me. I am a clever pony mister and I know when somepony is not telling me the truth. What are you hiding exactly?” “Oh boy… This will be trouble…” Jonathan thought as he smiled sheepishly to Twilight and wondered how she would take what he was about to tell her. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: Once again please comment to give me any kind of criticism or tell me about any mistakes you might have found. I'm really liking the writing so far, I just hope I can keep this one in some kind of frames. Please rate! :)
Chapter 3In My Dreams Chapter 3 Twilight looked at Jonathan with a stunned face. Her eyes were, if possible, even wider than usual. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as if trying to say something but no voice came out. “Um… Twilight?” Jonathan asked. “Are you… okay?” Jonathan knew what he had just told Twilight must’ve been a shock to the lavender pony. It’s not every day that you hear you’re a cartoon character from a kids’ TV-show. Twilight forced her eyes closed and shook her head a few times. Then she looked at Jonathan with serious eyes. “Tha- That’s not possible”, she whispered and looked at Jonathan almost as if pleading for him to burst out in laughter and say it was all just a joke, but Jonathan just looked back at him with an apologetic gaze that said it was all true. “I’m sorry Twilight. I truly am, but it’s true. Where I come from, lots of people watch your adventures every day”, Jonathan replied and continues. “Look, I don’t know how this is possible. I don’t even know how I got here, but for what it’s worth, this feels very much real to me. I’m sure I’m not dreaming this all. That has to mean that you’re real, right?” Jonathan hoped he could have made up some sort of lie instead of telling her everything, but he knew Twilight would have figured out he wasn’t telling the truth. Suddenly Twilight got back on her hooves and turned to leave. She glanced back at Jonathan. “I’m sorry Jonathan. I need to think about this, but I’ll come back later, I promise. Do you think you could keep this a secret from everypony else for now?” she asked. “Of course, Twilight. I won’t tell anyone… Um… Anypony, I mean”, Jonathan replied and smiled. Then suddenly remembering something he called to Twilight. “Uh. I forgot I already told nurse Redheart I’m from another planet.” “That’s okay. I’ll ask her not to tell anypony. I’m sure she’ll understand”, Twilight said and started walking away. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night”, she said as she closed the door. - - - Jonathan glanced out the window next to his bed. It was already evening. He couldn’t tell precisely what time it was since there was no clock in the room but it had to be at least eight. It had taken quite some time to tell the story to Twilight. Luckily Twilight hadn’t insisted on asking questions concerning humans. It was actually pretty weird considering how excited Twilight had been when she first saw Jonathan. The news must’ve been quite a shock to make Twilight act so unlike herself. It had only been a couple of minutes after Twilight left until a knock was heard on the door and nurse Redheart stepped in, followed by the doctor. The doctor was a light yellowish colored unicorn who wore a white doctor’s jacket that almost covered up his cutie mark, which was a heart monitor. He had a light brown mane and tail and wore glasses on his muzzle. The nurse had a tray in her teeth and she carefully placed it on the table next to Jonathan. “Here’s your dinner, Jonathan”, she said. “Sorry it’s a bit late but I didn’t want to disturb your chat with Twilight.” The doctor stepped closer holding a chart that apparently had Jonathan’s patient information in it. “Well, I’m glad that you’re awake and able to speak again Mister. My name is doctor Stable. How are you feeling?” he asked looking at Jonathan over the chart. “I’m feeling better, thank you”, Jonathan replied when suddenly a large yawn caught him completely without warning. The doctor chuckled slightly. “Well, I think we’d best not disturb you for much longer. I’m just going to do a quick checkup and then we’ll leave you to rest. I’m sure you’ve had a tiring day.” He stepped closer and flipped a page on the chart he had in his hooves. “Okay. Let us begin then. Since you had a concussion, I’ll have to do a few eye-hand coordination tests to make sure your brain’s functioning as it should. Could you please lift your right hand for me?” Jonathan did and the doctor scribbled a check mark on the page. “Okay, now the left one if you’d please.” The tests continued as the doctor asked Jonathan to do other simple tasks with his hands first checking the chart after each one and occasionally writing side notes. Then he pulled out a small flashlight from a pocket on his jacket and quickly checked Jonathan’s pupil reaction. After a few more tests which included Jonathan covering one of his eyes and reciting the letters on a poster on the wall, touching each of his fingers with his thumb and rather oddly, picking up the cup on his food tray and placing it down again several times. After about ten minutes the doctor finally flipped back to the first page of the chart. “Well, it seems everything is in order as far as I can tell. I’m not completely certain of course since you’re the first one of your kind I’ve ever treated. Just to make sure you don’t have any latent injuries or symptoms we might have missed, I’d like to keep you here for one more day if that’s all right. You’ll be released the morning after tomorrow if nothing special comes up. Does that sound okay?” the doctor asked and placed the chart on a hook at the end of Jonathan’s bed. “Sounds okay to me, doctor”, Jonathan said. “Oh, by the way. What day is it now?” he asked the doctor. “It’s Monday, third of September. You were found late Saturday morning and were unconscious for the whole of yesterday”, the doctor replied. “Okay. Thanks, doctor”, Jonathan said suddenly feeling a knot tighten inside him. He’d been away for three whole days! His parents must be out of their minds worrying for him. That’s, of course, assuming time flowed at the same speed in Equestria as it did on Earth. He had to get back soon or at least get a word through to them that he’s all right. But how in the world would that be possible? He didn’t know how or why he’d gotten here, and he had absolutely no idea how to get back home. “Maybe Twilight will find a way for me to get back. I’m sure if somepony will, it’ll be her”, he thought as the doctor took his leave. He heard nurse Redheart clearing her throat and realized he must’ve been in his thoughts for a moment. “If you need anything, just ring the bell on your nightstand and somepony will come see you. Is there something I could do for you right now?” the nurse asked giving a kind smile. “Umm… Did Twilight happen to say anything to you on her way out?” Jonathan asked, already half guessing the answer. If Twilight said she’d do something, Jonathan could be sure it would be taken care of. He just wanted to make sure. Twilight had been in a slight daze when she’d left the room so it would be completely understandable if she’d forgotten. “Oh. Yes. In fact she did”, the nurse said and gave a wide grin. “Don’t worry Jonathan. I won’t tell a soul.” “Thank you, nurse Redheart. I’d rather keep my origins a secret for now and I think Twilight would appreciate it too. At least until we figure out how I got here, and if…” Jonathan paused. The true severity of the situation finally hit him, hard. Jonathan realized he was actually on a strange planet, millions of miles away from home. Perhaps even in a different universe. He was a stranger here. He knew nothing of this place, except for what he’d seen on the show, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he should think of it as a reliable source of information. There had to be more to Equestria than what was in the show. He had no way of getting back home. He might never see his parents or friends again. He even missed the sounds and smells of his school. Everything familiar was totally, utterly gone. Everything he had ever known was just, not there anymore. Jonathan felt alone. Alone and lost. He had gotten lost in the woods around his house once, but even then he knew that if he’d just find a way out of the woods, he’d know exactly where he was and could be home in minutes. Now though, he was so far from home, the word “lost” wasn’t enough to cover the half of what it felt like. Jonathan was scared. Scared for himself, but also for his parents. He didn’t know how they’d deal with the loss of their only child. He knew if he was in their situation, he couldn’t handle it. He would be devastated beyond words. Suddenly something unleashed inside him. He felt his eyes filling with tears as he looked straight into nurse Redheart’s sapphire blue eyes. Jonathan shifted his look down upon his hands and brought them to his face. He lowered his head and started to sob. First lightly, but when he felt the nurse’s soft hooves wrap comfortingly around him, the dam broke. He started straight out weeping. Crying like he never had before. Jonathan pressed himself closer to the pony hugging him and cried his heart out. Nurse Redheart just stood on her hind legs, wrapping her forelegs around the boy, and hushed quietly. She knew what Jonathan must be feeling was something immeasurable. She’d cried when she’d first left her home for the medical school in Fillydelphia, but Jonathan hadn’t just left his home for school. No, he had been torn away from everything dear to him. Nurse Redheart wanted to do everything to help this young human, but right now, all she could do was to be there for him. She couldn’t make everything better but she could try to help Jonathan get through his grief, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Whatever problems he might have, she decided she would be there for him. ________________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: Sorry about the long gap between these last two chapters. I've been having a lot of school work lately and haven't found the time to write. I'll try to update more frequently from now on. I'm aiming for one chapter per two weeks at first and when I get my school work up to date, I'll try to narrow it down to one chapter per week. This one turned out to be a little shorter than the two previous chapters, but I think I managed to write everything I needed to. Give me your opinions about the chapter lengths. Do you think the chapters should be longer or is the current length okay? I also realized that while Microsoft Word is an excellent tool for writing and finding mistakes, it hardly notices everything. That is why I would really like to get someone or maybe even few someones to proofread the chapters before I publish them. Punctuation has never been my slice of pie so someone correcting my mistakes with the commas and periods and stuff would be just awesome. If you're interested, send me a PM and we'll chat about it. :) Once again, if you notice any mistakes, comment and tell me so I can fix them. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, I know I've enjoyed writing it. It's as much an adventure for me as it is for anyone else. I'm starting to get a more solid picture in my mind of where this will be going. If you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to give me a shout. Thank you for reading and don't forget to rate :)
