My Little Issue: Trapped in Equestria

"Elements… elements… elements… ugh, where is that book?!"

It hadn't taken much to sneak into the library.  No doubt Spike was already asleep, being a baby dragon.  I know I had told myself not to interfere with the story, but how much had changed with my insertion at this exact point in time?  After all, something must have put me here for a reason.  Maybe I was supposed to change the story?  But why?  What's so wrong with this one?

Ugh, I'm over thinking this.  I might as well help if I can; I'm going to be stuck here for who knows how long.  Might as well should do what I could to help, right?  And that meant helping stop Nightmare Moon from stopping the sun from ever again.  Now where was that darn book?!

"Hey!  What are you doing here?!"

Ah crap.  I must have taken longer than I thought, because next thing I knew, I had to turn around and face the purple unicorn herself, Twilight Sparkle.  I grumbled angrily to myself, then thought a quick story.  "Well, you saw that creepy alicorn out there!" I said, pretending not to know who it was.  "I figured if there was anything that could help stop her from keeping the sun down, it would be in a book in the library!"

Obviously, she didn't believe me, as her horn glowed a bit.  "Who are you, anyway?  I don't remember seeing you around Ponyville at all today.  And all of a sudden, you're interested in my library when Nightmare Moon escapes?"

At that I swallowed.  "Okay, maybe that doesn't exactly look good… but trust me!  I'm a good colt, okay?  I'm trying to STOP Nightmare Moon!"

At that, she let her eyes widen a bit, and her horn stopped glowing.  "You are?  Oh thank goodness!  I thought no one else believed in the Nightmare Moon curse!  So, what did you learn?"

It was a rather sudden change, I had to admit, but time was of the essence, so I didn't have time to be surprised.  I was about to say "Nothing" when Rainbow Dash confronted her.  I couldn't help but watch as the Mane Six interacted with each other, pretty much ignoring me.  At least, until it was about time for the book to be found, when a certain vane pony spotted me.

"Oh", she said, looking a little disgusted.  "It's you."

"Rarity", I said, dryly.  "Thinking of new ways to insult my natural color?"

"Oh, don't be so narcissistic", she said, gently tossing her mane.  "It's not always about you, you know."

"What happened to the customer is right?" I growled, pawing the ground.

"Hold it!" Applejack said, stepping in front of me.  "Ain't you the feller that asked me for a job today?  What were you doin' at Carrousel Boutique?"

"Minding my own business", I said, growling a bit.  "At least until she dragged me inside and attempted to find some way to 'hide' my 'disgusting' color!"

"I never!"

I huffed and turned around.  "That's besides the point!" I growled.  "I came here to find a way to stop that crazy pony that took our princess."

It was then I suddenly felt a gust of wind by my face, and all of a sudden, I was looking into the violet eyes of Rainbow Dash.  "Hold it!" she said, growling a bit.  "You're just as suspicious!  At least all of us have met Twilight!  Who ARE you, tall guy?!"

At this, I growled a bit, and stepped forward.  Were these ponies idiots?!  I just said I wanted to STOP Nightmare Moon!  "My name is Emerald Elegy!" I said, using my height to intimidate her.  Easily she cowed down, but only for a second as she stood at her own full height in an attempt to make me back off.  "I'm a newcomer to Ponyville, and I want Princess Celestia to come back just as much as you do, Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh really?  If you're new to Ponyville, then how do you know my name?!"

At that, I had to think of something new, and quickly came up with a decision.  "Ditzy Doo was the first to welcome me to Ponyville.  She told me a bit about all of you… except for you, that is", I said, pointing at the purple unicorn.  "I'm assuming you're new as well?"

"Yeah… my name is Twilight Sparkle.  I'm Princess Celestia's student", she said, introducing herself.

"Pleased to meet you", I said, bowing my head.  I finally backed down, and ignored Rainbow Dash's smug grin.  "Look, we could all just stay here and sit on our flanks and wait for something to happen… or we can find those Elements of Harmony that Twilight is looking for."

"The only problem is that I can't find any book that tells me anything about them!"

"Elements of Harmony; A Reference Guide", came the bubbly voice of Pinkie Pie.  Twilight immediately dashed over, shoving Pinkie out of the way and staring in awe.

"How did you find it?" I asked, surprised.  I didn't remember this part of that episode.

"It was under E", she sang, bouncing around the library.  I then smacked my hoof to my head, groaning.  How could I forget that corny little line?

"There are seven Elements of Harmony", a voice said, snapping me out of it.  I didn't hear much of her next little bit, my head reeling.  Seven?!  There were SEVEN elements?!  Crap, my being here has changed the story so much more than I thought!  "… and Humility."  So, that was my element.  But that only confused me even more.  Why would I be given the element of Humility?  I didn't have any special talents. I was never really good at anything I did, and I never felt true pride for anything I did. I was the least humble because I had no gifts to include with the group!

Now that I knew what was changed, it was only a matter of time before we headed for…

XxXxX

"… the Everfree Forest!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.  This reminded me of the most basic human fear of the unknown.  I guess my world and the pony world isn't too much alike.

"Whee!  Let's go!" Pinkie Pie said, about to take some steps forward when I stopped her by stepping on her fluffy tail.  Ugh, this was gonna take a long time.

"Not so fast", Twilight said, stepping forward.  "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."

"No can do, sugarcube", Applejack shot back, starting to walk into the forest.  "We sure ain't letting any friend of ours into that creepy place on their own."  I noticed the purple unicorn flinch, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.  She really was a shut in.  "We're stuck to you like caramel on a candy apple."

"Especially if there are candy apples in there!"  I couldn't help but groan loudly, and Pinkie shot me a look.  "What?  Those things are good."  She then trotted to catch up with the others, while Twilight and I were left in the back.  She sighed, and slowly began walking, when I stepped by her.

"I'm guessing you don't get out much?" I asked, smiling at her.  She shot me a surprised look, then sighed and nodded.

"No.  I'm so busy with my studies and sending my reports to Princess Celestia that I don't really have time to myself.  Not that I don't mind; I think it's fun to have all those books to myself."

"I wouldn't know", I replied.  "The most I read are the occasional story, but mainly music."

"What kind of songs do you know?"

"All kinds, but my favorite are musical numbers."  As we spoke, we caught up with the others, and I'm certain the others could hear me.  "It's something I found interesting, and I've been singing them ever since I was a colt.  Even as a foal, if my parents told me right."

The girls giggled a bit, and I couldn't help but blush and immediately clam up.  Which immediately prompted Rainbow Dash to tease me for a few minutes until we got much deeper in the forest, when I finally noticed that it was getting to be very eerie.  I guess it's a little scarier up close and personal…

"So, none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked, a twinge of nervousness in her voice.

"Are you kidding?  Heavens no!  Just look at it!  It's dreadful!"  I rolled my eyes once again at Rarity, but she did have a point.  The forest certainly had an ominous feel to it.

"And besides that, it just ain't natural", Applejack added.  I suddenly realized what was happening, and quickly moved back.  There wasn't any time to warn them, and they were too distracted by Rainbow attempting to scare them anyway.  And just as soon as I was safe and out of the way, the cliff broke away, letting the flightless girls slide down while Fluttershy and the cyan pegasus raced down, attempting to save them.  I watched, and slowly stepped onto the slope, allowing myself to slide down with ease.  As soon as I reached the bottom, Applejack had already convinced Twilight to let go and was climbing down herself.

"Sorry, girls.  I'm not used to carrying more than a bunny or two", I heard the calm voice of Fluttershy say, and couldn't help but smile.  She still sounded cute, even to my new equine ears.  Once I was on the ground, I immediately had a face full of blue as Rainbow Dash flew in front of me, glaring.

"And where were you?!" she asked, a hint of a snarl on her face.  "What were you doing while me and Fluttershy were saving everypony else?!"

"It was just bad luck", I said, turning my muzzle up.  "I had no idea that it was going to give away like that.  And if I had known, I would have warned everyone… if you weren't so busy trying to scare their tails off."  At that, she backed off, looking a little ashamed.  I could tell, though, that she definitely didn't trust me.  And judging by the other's, they weren't better off.

Whatever was going to be said next was cut off immediately by the sound of a roar, and I couldn't help but cower a bit.  The manticore was certainly intimidating, and I could feel my knees shake as Rarity charged, dodging a strike from its right paw.  Suddenly, my fear was gone, as I observed what was going on.  Despite the fact that it was moving around easily, I could see it was favoring it's left forepaw, where the thorn was.  I would have done something, but I'm not good with animals other than dogs, so I was kind of useless here.  The most I could do was look at Fluttershy and silently beg for her to intervene.  Of course, right on time, she did, stopping an all out attack from the other five mares.  She then calmly walked over to the manticore and calmed it down enough to remove the thorn, earning a purr and a lick in thanks.  The rest of us trotted by, not wanting to be nearby if the mythological beast decided it still didn't like us all that much.

"How did you know about the thorn?" I heard Twilight ask, and smiled at the shy pegasus' response.

"I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness."

XxXxX

I admit, it was definitely a little break from all the gloom hearing the girls laugh, but I was obviously not amused.  I stood there, staring at them with a blank look as I sighed.  The faces weren't that scary in the first place, so I was unaffected.  Plus, the song was pointless, and not to mention annoying.  Which Pinkie seemed to notice, because she seemed to glare at me a bit.  Finally, as they finally calmed down, I decided to confront Pinkie.  "What's your problem?  You 'giggled at the ghosties'.  Shouldn't you still be all smiles?"

"Why didn't you laugh?" she asked, looking suspicious.

"First, I wasn't even scared, so there was no reason for me to laugh.  Second… I hate to say this, but I didn't like that song."  I shook my head, feeling a little ashamed to say that to one of the Mane Six.

"Oh, and I suppose you're a lot better?" Rainbow said, sticking up for Pinkie.  I rolled my eyes.  "If you're so good, why don't you sing for us, Mountain Stallion?" she challenged.

"I don't think so", I said, immediately backing down.  "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"What for?  For not singing?  I bet you can't even sing that well!"

At this point, I began ignoring her.  The others, though, I couldn't help but notice.  I'm sure they were thinking the same thing as me.  I haven't really done much to help them in their quest, and there was a lot that I wasn't telling them.  That I COULDN'T tell them.

I spaced out for a good long while, mainly ignoring everything while Rarity gave her tail to the poor Serpent that lost his beloved mustache.  And I didn't pay attention when Rainbow Dash crossed to the other side of the foggy chasm, repairing the bridge.  It was during this point I felt something tap my shoulder, and jumped, my eyes going wide as I gasped.

"Oh… I'm sorry… did I scare you?" a familiar voice asked, and when I turned, there was the yellow pegasi.  I immediately swallowed nervously, since Fluttershy was the only one that I hadn't interacted with.

"N-no, sorry… I was just kinda spacing out there", I told her.  "Is there something you wanted?"

"W-Well, I was just wondering… Mister Elegy, where did you come from?  I mean, if you don't mind me asking…"

I couldn't help but blush at the adorable look on her face.  "It's okay, I'll tell.  Just call me Emerald, Miss Fluttershy", I told her, smiling.  "I was born in Manehatten, and that's where I lived for a good portion of my life.  I'm an actor."

"So, why do you guard yourself?" she asked, and immediately I stiffened.  "Oh… I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"N-No, it's okay", I say, smiling a bit.  "It's just… I don't know all of you that well, so I don't think I should be telling everypony my back story yet."  She seemed to accept that, and right on time too.  Rainbow Dash was coming back, and it was time to get moving again.  That was close, though…  if she kept pushing, she'd have figure out there's more to me than usual… and that's not exactly something I want to give up yet.

Finally, the Castle of the Two Sisters came into view.  Finally!  I couldn't handle another minute of this freaking forest!  It was just so stressful!  Once this was all over, I was going to need a nice long nap.

"Halt!"

Oh god, why?!  Why would this happen now?!  As I groaned loudly, two opaque ponies appeared, looking very old and wearing brown cloaks with orange emblems on them.  On the left, a pony with a handlebar mustache and a small, italicized b on his flank.  The other had a shorter mustache, with a pound sign, and immediately I knew who they were.

"We are the musician brothers!  Flat…" began the one on the left.

"… and Sharp!" the second finished.

"If you wish to enter Her Highness' castle", Flat started.

"Then you will have to move our hearts with a song!"

I groaned again, shaking my head.  And apparently, I wasn't the only one getting sick of all of this foolishness.

"Well, look's like it's time for another song!" Pinkie said, bouncing up.  "When I was just a filly and the sun was go-"

My hoof firmly placed itself onto her mouth, silencing her.  "Please, Pinkie… I don't think that it will move them like it moved your friends", I said.  "If these guys are looking for a song, then we'll need something with a little more… oomph."  I turned to the twins, and sighed.  "Would it matter if a stallion sang for you?"

"No", Flat said, shaking his head.

"We were the songwriters of the court in our life", Sharp stated.  "If no one was available to sing for the princesses, then we would sing ourselves."

"Then… I guess I'll be singing", I said.  "Although I won't be able to do it alone."  I turned to everyone, and thought long and hard.  Finally, I stopped on Twilight herself.  "Twilight Sparkle, would you please sing with me?"

"Wh-what?" she asked, surprised.  "B-but, you barely know me!  I-I'm not that good at singing."

I chuckled, and shook my head.  "Miss Twilight, my special talent is music itself.  I can tell that you're perfect for this song."  I approached her, leaning my head down a bit.  "I know you and I don't know each other very well, and I haven't exactly been a good friend the whole time… but you need to trust me on this.  Please, sing with me."

She stared for a bit, looking horrified, but slowly nodded.  "What song are we singing?"

"Just… hold on…"  My horn glowed, and like that, I knew how to cast the spell.  My knowledge spread to hers, and just like that, she knew what to do.  I turned to Flat and Sharp, and concentrated hard.  Suddenly, the wind began to pick up, and what sounded like an organ began to drift into my ears.  All the while, Twilight was counting to herself, until she opened her mouth and began to sing.

In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came

The voice which called to me and speaks my name

Now do I dream again?  For now I find

The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind

No doubt the other girls were surprised, with how wide their eyes were.  I smirked, then began to focus.  I remembered my training, and closed my eyes, working on keeping my mouth tall, even when my lips weren't opened.  Finally, I began singing my verse.

Sing once again with me, our strange duet

My power over you grows stronger yet

And though you turn from me to glance behind

The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind

I wasn't even paying attention to anything but the song as the key changed again.  I didn't imagine what the ghosts looked like; just the story that the song conveyed.

Those who have seen your face draw back in fear

I am the mask you wear

It's me they hear

My spirit and your voice in one combined

Your spirit and my voice in one combined

The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my/your mind

In all your fantasies you always knew

The man and mystery

Were both in you

And in this labyrinth where night is blind

The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my/your mind.

Finally, our voices died, and we heard the cheering of the other girls, plus the clapping of Flat and Sharp.

"Stupendous!" Sharp cried.

"That is the best music that we have heard in centuries!" Flat continued.  "You are certainly amazing musicians yourselves!"

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I began hoofing the ground.  "It wasn't that amazing…"

"And humble!  Brother, I think that this is the best we'll ever hear, don't you agree?" Sharp asked, a smile on his face.

"I believe you're right, Brother.  I feel… so at ease now!  I think we may move on now!" Flat said, fading away already.

Just like that, they were gone, and the girls were surrounding me, giving me undeserved praise.  My cheeks heated up as we headed inside, and finally claimed our prize…

… Six hunks of useless rocks.  Of course.  I grumbled a bit, but sat there.  While Twilight attempted to activate the elements, Applejack nodded her head to the door, and I followed the rest of the Mane Six outside to give her some privacy.

Once outside, I felt a tap on my flank, and turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash standing there.  "Um… can I help you?"

"Don't ya have something to say, Rainbow?" the farm pony asked nudging her cyan friend.

"Don't push it, farm hick."

I chuckled at their talking, and immediately knew what was going on.  But I decided to bite my tongue and keep quiet as the Element of Loyalty looked at me, her usual confidence gone.  "Look, big guy… I don't really know how to say this… but… I was a bit of a jerk… you were only trying to help and… well… what I mean to say is… ugh, why is this so hard to say?"

"Apology accepted Rainbow Dash", I said smiling.  "I understand.  My way of helping left… something to be desired.  But next time you think you could trust me a bit more?"

"I think I can do that", Rainbow said, smiling.  It was then that we heard the laughter of Nightmare Moon, and immediately I knew where to go.

"Come on, everypony!  Twilight needs our help!  Follow me!"  I immediately began charging for the tower, since that was where Nightmare Moon had taken our precious Elements and our friend.  We began calling for her as we got close to the top, and gave her the spark she needed to activate the Elements of Harmony.

Soon, our necks adorned six gold necklaces, with our Cutie Marks made of gems fixed in the center.  And with a wave of bright magic, we took out Nightmare Moon, revealing the young princess trapped underneath.  And once Celestia arrived and nuzzled Luna, it was our cue to head back to Ponyville.  But only as we head back did a voice stop me.

"Emerald Elegy?  May I please have a word with you?"

I stopped right in my tracks, and turned to Princess Celestia, the one who stopped me.  How did she know my name?  "Um… s-sure, Your Majesty."

Twilight paused as well, looking at both of us.  "Is there something wrong, Princess?"

"No, my faithful student", Celestia said, smiling at the purple unicorn.  "Don't worry, we shall catch up later.  I just need a word with your new friend."

As Twilight left, I couldn't help but swallow nervously.  None of this made sense.  First, I get sucked into this world.  Second, it adapts to include me into the episodes that I saw back on my home world.  Third, Princess Celestia knows a name that I made up for myself.

I didn't like this one bit.