Follow the Melody

by Astrocity

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Main 6, Lyra, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Romance
Length: 42059

Lyle Hartston finds himself in Equestria. He meets Lyra Heartstrings. Human to pony story.

Magical mishaps, moral dilemmas, and multiple contusions -- normal ponies don't have to deal with these things. Too bad Lyle Hartston isn't a "normal" pony. From the normal life of a human to an exciting and hectic life of a pony, Lyle's life is flipped upside down. Things can only get stranger for this brony when he wakes up in Equestria. More surprises await for him as he comes to meet a certain pony by the name of Lyra Heartstrings.

All songs belong to their respective artists.

Special thanks to Toni_PWNeroni and ZST6262 for editing and pre-reading.

I still have old original chapters in html format on mediafire. (Warning: poorer quality)

Published 2012-10-25 03:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-30 22:06:00 UTC

New Body

After my little “freak out” with the screaming, the swearing, and the fact that I had been turned into a pony, a colt no less, the shocked expression on Lyra’s face steadily grew into a frown. Judging from her facial expressions, I learned that Equestria did in fact have profanity, despite it being a world from a cartoon originally made for little kids. However, swearing out loud was the least of my problems. Right now I had done what was physically impossible and was transported to a cartoon world filled with adorable ponies. I know. Crazy, right? There were only three explanations to what had occurred: one, I was actually hallucinating from taking drugs, although that seemed unlikely but still plausible; two, I had somehow gone crazy and I was now sitting in a padded room while talking to non-existent ponies; or three, I had been transported to the land of Equestria by magic. All these explanations seem pretty hard to believe, and the situation I was in didn't make any sense at all.

Back to the present, Lyra seemed a bit irritated by my sudden outburst of profanity and screaming from the frown she gave me. "Lyle, good little colts do not use foul language," Lyra scolded. Already my young appearance was having an effect on Lyra. Her didactic tone and lecture on swearing wounded my pride. Here she was talking to me like a child when not twenty four hours ago I was an adult. My poor brain was having too much trouble trying to process everything that had happened. It was a lot to wrap my head around.

"What the fuck? I'm not a little colt!"

She gave me a stern look. "That's right. You're not a little colt because big colts know not to say dirty words. But if you want to start acting like one, then I guess somepony won't be having pancakes for breakfast.”

I was about to retort with another string of profanity, but the loud protests from my stomach stopped me from doing so. "No wait! I'm sorry! I'll be a good colt from now on." I gave my best apologetic look. There was no way I was going to pass on free pancakes after eating cereal and frozen food for a week.

Lyra gave a warm smile, showing satisfaction in my genuine apology. "Well now that you're awake, let's go eat breakfast," she said as she began to trot out of the room.

I looked down at my equine body. Right... Hooves... The loss of hands and feet was a completely new sensation to me. I couldn't feel where my fingers or toes used to be now that they were gone. Going from a biped to a quadruped was disconcerting. It made all of this seem like a dream, but the soreness in my legs and the sting of my cuts told me otherwise. One of my rear legs gave a kick as I tested it out, showing that the stubby limb was definitely attached to me and was mine.

While being acquainted with my new appendages, I made standing up my first goal in this new small body. With more difficulty than it should for a normal pony — then again I wasn’t a normal pony — I stood up with my weight shifting between my hooves on the uneven surface of the bed. Standing up, I noticed that I had some bandages wrapped around parts of my legs and barrel. With everything that had happened, I can see why I didn't notice it. Honestly, it felt really strange, yet natural, to stand on four limbs. The two legs I was so used to walking on for the majority of my life were now bent in the opposite direction, and if I hadn’t known I was a pony, I would be having a panic attack right now.

Just when I thought standing up was hard, I found out learning to walk was ten times worse. As soon as I lifted my right foreleg, I lost my balance and fell flat on my face on the bed. It was a good thing I tried to start walking on the bed instead of the wooden floor. Otherwise, my face would probably hurt a lot more.

I got back up again, although rather shakily. Alright Lyle. You can do this. You've got this. Just take one step.

I carefully moved my right foreleg up, taking careful measures not to lose my balance, and placed it one step towards the edge of the bed. Seeing how I didn't fall on my face, I gave myself a triumphant grin. Fuck yeah! First step! Now for the other legs... Another question popped into my head as I thought about how I was going to move the rest of my legs. Do ponies move with alternating legs or did they move each pair at the same time? I decided to experiment and hesitantly moved my left hind leg forward. Luckily, I didn't fall, and I assumed I made the right choice in choosing my limbs. So like a newborn foal learning to walk, I did the same to my left foreleg then my right hind leg and began inching forward.

After finally reaching the edge of the bed, another problem came up. Now how the hell am I going to get down? I could try jumping off the bed, but I didn't want to risk anymore injury to myself. Instead, I decided to try and climb down the bed. Cautiously, I turned around so that my rear legs were position at the edge of the bed, and as slow as I could, I slid both legs off the bed with my forelegs grabbing onto the bed as if my life depended on it. When I felt a hard surface touch the bottom of my hooves, I gave a sigh of relief. As I loosened my death grip on the bed and attempted to turn around, I momentarily lost my balance. One second was all it took before I fell on my back with an audible thud.

Cursing under my breath, I attempted to stand again, though with less difficulty than it did the first time. I began practicing my walking by moving towards the dresser with the mirror. Left foreleg, right hind leg. Right foreleg, left hind leg. Usually, people don’t think when they walk, but then again, people don’t often get put into a new body all of sudden. I had my eyes on my hooves the whole time as I went through what was supposed to be a simple process.

When I finally reached the dresser, I realized how much shorter I got. My head barely reached above the dresser, but I was able to at least look at my reflection in the mirror. Like the rest of my body, my coat was mint-green. My mane was a lighter shade of my coat with a white stripe streaking through it like my tail. I saw the small horn perched at the top of my head, poking between the hairs of my mane. My eyes were the same color as Lyra’s, and they were larger than what it was before. Instead of having a normal mouth and nose, I had a small muzzle protruding out of my face. Bandages covered one side of my cheeks, evidence of last night’s incident. Another striking thing I noticed was how similar I looked to a certain human-obsessed unicorn. If I looked a few years older, I would have looked like a male version of Lyra.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Lyra called out from downstairs. "Lyle, are you coming? Breakfast is going to get cold."

At that moment, my stomach decided to give a reminder of how hungry I was. "I'll be right down!" I replied. Making my way out the door, I noticed the pictures that decorated the yellow walls of the hall that led to the stairs. In most of these pictures were two ponies, one a green unicorn and the other a cream-colored earth pony with a rose pink stripe running down her blue mane. I recognized the pair as Lyra and Bon Bon. Housemates?

As I trotted down the hall, I stopped at the head of the stairs. Well... This is going to be impossible to go down without any bodily injury. Taking slow, carefully placed steps, I attempted to crawl down the stairs. It was going well at first, to the point where I made it halfway down the stairs, but then a certain unicorn decided to call out for me to come down at the worst time. "Lyle, are you okay up ther--"

She noticed me halfway down the stairs, and at that point I was already losing my balance after being startled from her sudden appearance. Time seemed to slow down as the disaster in front of me unfolded. I first misplaced one of my forelegs, sending my face falling forward towards one of the steps. As soon as my face made contact with the wooden step, a sharp pain shot through my face. That wasn't the end of my fall, however, as the rest of my body moved forward from the momentum, sending me tumbling down the stairs with pain coursing through my body with each hit against the hard wooden steps.

After my great impression of a slinky falling down the stairs, I came to a halt on the floor of the living room, flat on my belly in front of a worried Lyra. New pain replaced the aches and sores from the previous night. Lyra rushed closer to my side, checking for any serious wounds and spouting apologies. "Oh my gosh! Lyle, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?"

A painful groan escaped my lips. Oh, yeah. I’m fine, just dandy. I mean it’s not like I’m hurt or anything after falling down a flight of stairs. No, I'm not okay!

Of course, I didn’t say that out loud. She didn't know I was using hooves for the first time, after all, and it wasn’t like she did it with the intention to hurt me. It was just an accident. So instead, I gave a weak nod. She still gave me an apologetic look before leaning forward to nuzzle the side of my head. I was left flustered and speechless, unused to someone's face being so close to mine. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks as what I assumed was a blush starting to form. As she pulled her head away, she smiled at me, although there was still a hint of remorse in it.

"Sorry for startling you, Lyle. You're legs probably still hurt from that fall. Here, let me help you.”

I didn't know how she was going to help me. That was until I was enveloped in a green aura. She used her magic to hoist me onto her back. Another blush burned on my cheeks. Okay, so I’m naked and riding on top of— No! Stop that brain! I tried to perish that thought as Lyra carried me into the dining room. In the dining room was a wooden table with two plates stacked with pancakes covered in maple syrup, a small slice of butter sitting on top of each. Next to these two plates were glasses of the pulpy goodness that was fresh-squeezed orange juice.

My mouth watered at the sight before me. My stomach seemed to agree with me with another loud rumble. Food! I’m so hungry I could eat a horse... I better make sure not to say that out loud. Lyra heard my stomach and gave a small chuckle as I gazed at the nice spread. She levitated me off her back and onto a chair right by one of the plates filled with flapjacks. As I hungrily stared at the pancake in front of me like a predator eyeing his prey, I came upon another problem. How the hell am I supposed to eat this?

I looked at the fork and knife sitting next to the plate and then back at my own pancakes. None of this made sense. How am I supposed to hold utensils? And who the hell invented these utensils for pony use? I can see how a unicorn would use magic to pick these up, but how did other ponies use utensils? As I pondered over my predicament, Lyra was already digging into her stack, using magic to levitate the fork and knife. She stopped eating when she noticed that I hadn't taken a single bite out of the delicious-looking pancakes.

"Something wrong?"

I looked up from my plate and gave a nervous smile. "Oh, nothing's wrong. It's just... I’m not sure how to eat this without magic."

She gave an understanding nod. "I understand. Most young unicorns aren't able to use magic until they're older. Eat in whatever way you feel comfortable with. I don't mind."

I tried to grasp the fork with my right foreleg, but all I ended up doing was pushing the fork with my stubby legs. It seemed impossible to hold anything with hooves! Left with no other choice, I hesitantly took a small bite out of the top layer of pancakes. As soon as the fluffy, golden tan deliciousness came in contact with my tongue, there was an explosion of flavor – the buttery taste mixing with the sticky sweetness of the maple syrup. I let out a loud "Mmmmmm" of contentment as I savored each bite. It was one of the best things I had ever eaten this entire week. I attempted to wash down the flapjacks with orange juice, but the lack of hands reminded me of why this was going to be a difficult task. Throwing caution to the wind, I wrapped both of my hooves around each side of the glass, and using my fetlocks, I shakily lifted the glass off the table and brought it to my mouth. Forgetting that I now had a muzzle, I ended up smacking the glass into my nose and doing a little juggle with the cup as I tried to grip it again. Fortunately, there weren’t any damages and I only dropped a few drops of orange juice. I chuckled nervously at Lyra who had stopped eating and was watching the whole spectacle with one eyebrow raised. With everything back under control, I slowly tipped the cup back, filling my mouth with the sweet nectar of oranges. I downed the whole juice greedily before setting the glass down and letting out a sigh.

Now with food in my belly, I was able to think more clearly without the distraction of hunger. So a recap of what happened: I slept in my bed last night like normal, woke up in Equestria as a young colt, and got chased by timberwolves, leading up to where I was now. On one hand, er hoof (I'll never get used to that), I was in a place where there’s magic and my favorite adorable, talking ponies. On the other hoof, I was a little colt who has to relive childhood and whose family has no clue where he was. And to make matters much more complicated, there was explaining to Lyra what I was.

Should I tell Lyra what I am? I wasn’t sure how accurate the pony fandom was, so I wasn’t even sure if she knew about humans. With so many choices to make, I didn’t know how to approach the situation. Lyra, however, was able to bring my train of thought to a halt when she started asking questions.

"So Lyle, where are your parents? They must be really worried by now since you spent the night here."

I decided that I should tackle my situation one problem at a time, starting with my regressed age. "Well, I don't think they would really be worried about me spending the night here."

"Why wouldn't they be worried? Their young foal is missing! Don't they care about you?"

I needed to correct the misunderstanding quickly. “Oh, they care about me. I’m pretty sure they know I can take of myself.."

She frowned, unsatisfied with the answer she got. "Aren't you a little young to be living on your own? You're not even a full grown stallion yet."

Now was the moment of truth. "About that... I'm actually older than I look. You see, last night before I fell asleep, I somehow turned into a little colt. I’m actually older." I didn't want to tell her about being a human from another world just yet. There was no need to make things more confusing than it already was.

The little change her facial expression after I told her about my situation told me that she didn't believe a single bit of my explanation. She moved closer to me and placed one of her hooves on my forehead. "You still feel a little warm. I think you should rest a little more, and we'll talk about this later."

With a sigh of disappointment, which Lyra took as tiredness, I walked back to the living room and climbed up the stairs. I can tell you that it was a lot easier going up than going down. I walked back into Lyra's room and crawled into bed to sleep on the whole being-in-Equestria thing. It was midday, but I still felt tired after all that had happened just after waking up. As I began to sleep, Lyra quietly slipped outside and made her way to Ponyville's library.

I'm sure Twilight would know what to do with Lyle. She’s pretty smart after all, she thought.

Potty Emergency

I walked into my room like usual, more like trudged really, after warming myself some dinner: cheap frozen pizza. Another day of classes had me drained. The thought of going to work the next day was something to not look forward to. Juggling between classes and a part time job was the expected life of a college student. The only thing to look forward to was another new episode of My Little Pony. It was too bad that the season finale aired already, meaning the next season wasn't due until a couple months. I trudged into my dark room, not bothering to turn the lights on, before flopping onto my bed with my clothes still on. It was only two more years of this routine before getting a full-time job and doing that for the rest of my life and retiring to live out my days in old age. The very thought of that was depressing. As I laid in my bed, pulling out my phone and earbuds to listen to some music, I looked up at the sky through the window. It was one of those rare nights where you actually see the stars out, like little diamonds on a black canvas, despite the city lights. A full moon lit the night sky.

Hours from now and I get to wake up and do the whole thing all over again. Oh joy… Is it too much to ask for a little something to spice up my life? I wish my life was exciting, like those ponies. At least they get to go on crazy adventures. What am I saying? Like that’ll ever happen.

My eyes grew heavy, the sound of music caressing my ears. A shooting star streaked across the sky as the next song began to play.

“My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…”

A yawn escaped my lips before my eyes closed. The soothing darkness of sleep enveloped me as I fell under its spell.

~~~~~~~

I woke up as the sun was setting. The sky was painted in an orange hue while the clouds were given a shade of pink that darkened to the color of violet. Although the sun was my morning arch-nemesis, I couldn't help but be entranced by the sheer beauty of the warm, yellow orb, dipping below the orange horizon like a great fire dying out, as I stared out the window. As Celestia's sun was swallowed by the horizon, the shadows that covered Lyra's room grew and elongated, like creatures of the night awakening from their slumber.

Feeling refreshed from my midday nap, I was able to think with a clear head now that my fever was gone, although trying to remember what happened the night before didn't bring back any memories. My mind drew a blank whenever I tried to. The pains from falling down the stairs this morning had dulled significantly. With a stretch and a loud pop from my spine, I proceeded to walk out of the dark room. While walking, however, I felt a familiar pressure near my lower region, signaling my bladder's wake-up call.

Right, I haven't taken a piss since yesterday morning.

Motivated by the urge to expel the urine from my bladder, I hastily made my way out the door, almost bumping into a cream-colored pony. Thankfully, I was able to avoid colliding into the mare as well as preventing any possible "accidents." The mare who I almost crashed into was certainly surprised by my sudden appearance out of Lyra's room. I recognized the mare as Lyra's friend, Bon Bon, and to not seem rude, I gave a quick apology.

"Oh! Sorry for almost bumping into you."

Her surprised expression turned into a smile. "Oh, it's okay. Hey, you're that colt Lyra found last night. How are you feeling now?"

I really didn't want to stick around to chat because my bladder insisted that I find a toilet soon. "I'm feeling much better now, thank you." I replied quickly, hoping to end this conversation as soon as possible, but the mare kept the conversation going.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright. My name is Bon Bon by the way," she said while beaming.

"Hi, my name is Lyle," I said while trotting in place, or as I like to call the "potty dance." Before Bon Bon could pursue this conversation any further I quickly changed the topic. "Not to cut our meeting short or anything but where's the bathroom?"

The cream-colored mare, sensing my urgency, pointed down the hall. "Second room to the right."

As I began to gallop down the hall, I looked back towards Bon Bon. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you, Bon Bon." She gave a smile and a nod before heading downstairs. I turned my attention back to the task at hoof. Gotta go. Gotta go. Oh god, the dam’s gonna burst!

When I got to the door of what I assumed was the room of the porcelain throne, another problem was presented to me as if fate had decided that today was a great day to fuck with me. Unlike Lyra's door, which was open when I woke up both times, the door to the bathroom was closed. I still hadn't figured out how to hold things. I desperately tried to grasp the door knob with my short, stubby hooves. The door knob kept slipping out of my grasp, making turning impossible. God dammit! Who would invent door knobs in a world without hands?! Well... when in Equestria, do as the Equestrians do.

With the urge to pee becoming more frequent, I decided to turn the door knob with my mouth. Since this was the door to the bathroom where ponies did their business, I was starting to have second thoughts on using my mouth. But at this point, I was desperate. I held the door knob between my teeth and tilted my head. As I pushed the door forward, my tongue partially grazed the door knob, giving me the taste of metal. Just don't think about it, Lyle. You can worry about that later after you empty the piss tank.

After making my way inside, I shut the door behind me and walked to the sink to spit out the taste of the door knob. In the corner of the bathroom was a heavenly sight before me. The white toilet before me seemed as if it was giving a radiating glow. The only way to make this scene perfect was if there was an angelic choir singing. Admirations aside, I made my way to the Porcelain God. However, my new unfamiliar equine body presented me another dilemma. It was as if fate decided to give me a handful of problems today.

How the hell do ponies use the toilet? Do I stand up? Sit down?

With the dam near bursting, I just went with whatever felt natural in this body. I won't go into the specifics of what had occurred but I will say that I was glad I didn't make a mess of things, which would have been embarrassing if Lyra and Bon Bon found out.

After washing my hooves, I made my way to the door, only to be reacquainted with a familiar predicament except this time was in the bathroom. I reluctantly used my mouth again to turn the door knob, taking extra precaution to make sure my tongue didn't get a taste of the metal knob. Thankfully, it didn't.

Closing the door behind me, I made my way to the stairs. Once again facing the dreaded flight of stairs, I prayed to some god of misfortune to stop fucking with me. I slowly crawled my way downstairs at an agonizing snail’s pace. Minutes of climbing down the stairs later, I finally reached the living room.

The room was lit by the lights from the ceiling, showing that Equestria had at least electricity and fairly modern technology. The room was rather simple and quaint. It had an olive green sofa that was big enough to fit three ponies, a small mahogany coffee table holding three cups of tea, an oval rug with intricate patterns, and a recliner that matched the color of the sofa. The walls were adorned with paintings of landscapes, giving the room a homely feeling to it. In the corner of the room was a door that led outside and right by the door was a window with vanilla curtains that complemented the light yellow walls.

Sitting on the sofa were three mares. One of them was Bon Bon , who gave a small wave with her foreleg. Next to her was Lyra, who wasn't sitting like a human like I expected her to, sipping her tea using magic to hold her cup. Finally, at the far end of the sofa was a lavender unicorn with a violet mane and a pink stripe streaking her mane. From her bookish appearance and the set of stars depicted on her flank, there was no way of mistaking her for any other pony other than the star of the show -- Twilight Sparkle. Looking back at the other two's cutie marks, I noticed that Lyra's was a lyre and Bon Bon's was three wrapped pieces of candy, just like in the show. While I was staring at their flanks in a completely non-sexual way, Lyra caught my attention.

"Lyle, why don't you have a seat so we can talk?"

I gave a nod of acknowledgement and headed towards the recliner. The seat was really soft. As I sank in my chair, I felt small. Very small. I sat on my haunches and made myself comfortable before turning my attention back towards the group of mares on the sofa.

With the sudden appearance of one of the main characters from the show, I contemplated on whether or not I should tell Twilight about me being a human from another universe. However, Lyra's reaction to when I told her about my age didn't really go exactly as planned. I decided that telling Twilight about my predicament would probably make her think that I was delusional or mentally unstable. She would probably say something along the lines of: “That’s not scientifically possible.” After all, she was pretty stubborn when it came to believing in Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense.

I needed to think about my actions thoroughly before going through with them. If I could somehow convince Twilight that I was a human from another universe, then maybe I could to talk to one of the princesses of Equestria and get help from them. But then again...

Do I want to go back? If I stayed in Equestria, all I have worked for in my life would be all for nothing, and I wouldn't be able to see my family and friends ever again. But if I did stay, I would be living my dream and be able to meet my favorite ponies. It was a tough decision.

I decided I was going to find a way back home while at the same time having fun in Equestria. If I can't choose either, then why not choose both, right? For the time being, my goal was to establish some credibility with the ponies I was going to meet, maybe make some new friends on the way.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Good evening, Lyle. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the town’s librarian."

"Uh, hi Miss Sparkle. My name's Lyle... and you already knew that... when you said my name..." I wanted to just cut to the chase and tell her everything, like me being an adult and from another world, but I held my tongue. There was no need to act like a crazy colt pretending to be an adult just yet. It was better to act calm and polite, like a good little colt should.

Twilight giggled behind her hoof at my stumbling introduction. "You can just call me Twilight, Lyle. Lyra here told me that you've been living on your own without your parents. We just want to help you, but to do that, can you tell us about yourself?"

This whole meeting with Twilight was starting to feel like an intervention already, and I hadn't even said anything crazy yet. But, I complied anyway. "Sure, uh, what do you want to know?" I had to choose my words carefully, but at the same time, I really didn't want to lie to these ponies. I decided to tell a partial truth if I needed to.

"So Lyle, where did you come from?" I couldn’t say I was from another universe, and knowing Twilight, she would probably know the lands and cities of Equestria.

"The Everfree Forest," I replied. Technically, I spoke the truth since I woke up in the Everfree Forest, and Twilight didn't really ask me to specify my place of origin.

My answer elicited a chorus of gasps from the mares in the room. They probably didn’t expect a little colt to be in such a dangerous place. "T-the Everfree Forest, Lyle?" Lyra asked, her voice touched with concern.

"What were you doing there? Don’t you know how dangerous the Everfree Forest is?!" Twilight exclaimed. Bon Bon just sat at the sidelines and watched the conversation instead, though her face showed that she, like the other two, was worried about my own well-being.

"I got lost," I said flatly. It was better to play the naïve colt than to speak the truth. You know, for their sake. I didn’t want to add more to their worries by talking like a lunatic, and spouting things like being a two-legged creature who watches a cartoon about them definitely fits the crazy image. But again, no lies to be found here since I really was lost in a forest filled with natural predators, like the ones that tried to kill me earlier.

“Where are your parents?” asked Twilight. “I'm sure they're very worried by now."

I couldn’t just say, “My parents are in another universe,” because then I would have to explain where Earth was, and that would lead to a long, crazy explanation about humans, leading to therapy sessions and talking to a psychiatrist who has no idea how to help me. I could already see the looks of pity from all the ponies, saying “Oh, that poor colt” or “What an unfortunate thing to happen to him.” To be treated as such would be torturous –- trying to tell the truth when every single pony sees it as a made up story by a poor, little foal. No, I wasn’t going to go down that path. So instead, I answered the latter question and ignored the former, hoping they wouldn't ask anymore about my parents or where I'm from.

"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be worried about me. I'm old enough to take care of myself now." From the frown she gave me, I took it Twilight didn't take this as a satisfactory answer.

"You're not even an adult yet. You’re still too young to be doing things as dangerous as going to the Everfree Forest! Now, where are your parents?"

Twilight was pretty sharp to notice that I didn't answer one of her questions. I used a hoof to brush a hair out of my face but really I was wiping away the moisture that was gathering on my face. "I've been taking care of myself for a while now. And I didn't go to the Everfree forest on purpose. I just happen to wake up there last night. As for my parents, they're not here... in Equestria."

“You mean they’re abroad?”

I fidgeted in my seat. The room felt hotter. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. What do I say? What do I say?! Should I lie or come clean? My mind went back and forth between two decisions: lie or truth? I felt a headache forming as I thought about what to do. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I mean you can’t find them anywhere in the world even if you tried…” I only got confused expressions from the mares in front of me. “… Because an unfortunate accident is keeping me from ever seeing them again…”

The room grew deathly quiet. So quiet that I was pretty sure I heard a mouse fart two miles away. All three mares stared at me with utter shock on their faces as I stared at them back, waiting for their next reaction. Lyra was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "S-so when you say your parents aren't here in Equestria, you mean they’re..." The rest of her sentence died in her throat, the silence creeping back into the room.

I said nothing, letting the misunderstanding take its course. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want to say the complete truth either. I remained silent and stared at my new appendages, avoiding all eye contact with them. The sound of sniffling was what I heard, and when I took a glance at them, they each had tears gathering in their eyes. They all got off the sofa and trotted closer to me, and soon I was surrounded by the three mares, nuzzling me in sympathy, for a misfortune I made up on the spot. Their touch was warm and caring.

If I ever told any of them the truth, it would not only be awkward for me but it would also potentially destroy their trust of me. I couldn't just tell them the truth. They wouldn’t believe me. I had no proof, no substantial evidence to back up my seemingly ludicrous claim. I had to remain silent for the time being. The truth and apologies could come later. The guilt stirred in the pit of my stomach for deceiving them like this.

When all three mares broke contact, Twilight continued the discussion from where we left off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything you don't feel comfortable talking about."

"It's… it’s alright, Twilight." A tinge of guilt weighed on my mind.

"How did you end up in the Everfree Forest then? Did somepony foalnap you?" Twilight asked, the look of sympathy not leaving her face.

"I just woke up in the Everfree Forest. There wasn't anyb--, anypony around when I woke up." I almost slipped up when I spoke, but fortunately I was able to catch myself in time so that none of them noticed. I could tell I caught Twilight’s interest by the look in her eyes. It was the look of a calculating mind wanting to satisfy an itch of curiosity.

"So you woke up in the Everfree Forest?" I nodded. I had no idea where she was going with this.

Twilight furrowed her brows in deep thought before continuing. "And did you meet anypony before you woke up?" I shook my head. "Hmm, if it's not too much trouble, can you come with me to the Everfree Forest to where you woke up?"

I couldn't believe my luck. Here she was asking me to take her to the place where I woke up to find out how I got there. At this rate, I would probably be sent back home in no time. Though, I felt bummed out that I won't get the chance to stay a little longer. Sure, I would like to get back home, but a part of me wanted to stay in Equestria, though not as a little colt.

"Isn’t the Everfree Forest too dangerous for the two of you go in alone?" asked Bon Bon, who had been mostly silent in the conversation.

“How can you think of letting him go back there after what he’s been through?!” Lyra shouted.

Twilight visibly winced from the little outburst, her ears folding back. "I know the Everfree Forest is dangerous, but I promise I'll keep him safe. Most of the predators in the Everfree Forest are nocturnal, so we’ll be fine during the day. I'll also bring some friends along so there’s safety in numbers. And I didn't mean I would take him tomorrow. I mean until he feels better and ready for it. I just need to take a quick look around the place and we’ll be out as soon as we can."

Twilight was the Element of Magic, and if she said she was going to keep me safe, then that would be a pretty hard argument to go against. Also the fact that she would bring the other girls only solidified her stance. Even Lyra knew Twilight brought up some pretty good points but that didn’t mean she liked the idea, clearly shown by her glare in Twilight’s direction.

"Well, it's not really up for us to decide," Bon Bon said, glancing in my direction.

All eyes were on me. "I guess I could go there once I get better."

"Okay, Lyle. I better go and get things ready for when we set off for the Everfree Forest. Thank you for the tea, Lyra. Good night." With that, Twilight made her way to the door and exited the house, probably heading home I assumed.

"Lyle, I'm guessing you don't have a place to stay since you woke up in the Everfree Forest, right?" Lyra asked.

"Er, no. Not really.” Being new to Equestria, I had no home, no money, and no job. I was homeless. I hoped sleeping outside wasn’t going to be too bad. I imagined it would be like camping, except without a tent... or food... or bug spray...

"You can stay here with me and Bon Bon if you want."

I guess that solves that problem, but still… “I don't want to impose on you two. I would just be a burden to you." The free pancakes and the bed was nice and all, but I didn't want to take advantage of them too much.

Bon Bon shook her head. "You're no burden to us, Lyle. You can stay with us until we find out what we’re going to do with you.”

"Yeah," said Lyra, "we even have an extra room for you to stay in. But, we gotta clean it out first. We've been using it as storage."

I didn't know what to say. These ponies had shown nothing but hospitality for me. I felt like I was taking advantage of them and doing nothing to pay them back. In a quiet voice that rivaled Fluttershy's, I consented, "Um, okay... Thank you..."

It was then that my stomach signaled that it was feeding time again. The growl of my stomach was heard by the two mares as they looked at me. I gave a sheepish grin. "So... what's for dinner?"

Mixed Feelings

I know I said I was hungry before, but now… I wasn’t so sure. Sitting in front of me was a plate filled with what I assumed was hay and a salad with dandelions mixed with the green, leafy vegetables. My stomach was telling me to gorge on the food in front of me, but my brain was saying “this shit ain't real food.”

After a few minutes of contemplating and staring at what was essentially a plate of grass and flowers, I decided to try out my new diet. Maybe I developed a new taste for grass and flowers? Who knows? I gingerly took a dandelion in my teeth and started chewing the flower. Well… it tasted like I expected it would taste. Like a flower. There was no other way to describe it. I didn’t know why I was expecting it to taste like anything else. Although, it did have a hint of sweetness that I probably wouldn't have tasted if I was human. I dug into my dandelion salad. It wasn't really my favorite food in the world, but it was still okay. I would much rather eat a cheeseburger right now.

As I was eating my vegan meal, I noticed Bon Bon staring at me and Lyra, who sat next to me at the dinner table. Starting to feel uncomfortable with her staring, I spoke up. "Something wrong, Bon Bon?"

She shook her head, realizing that she had been staring. "Nothing's wrong. It's just... With you sitting side by side with Lyra, you look a lot like her." Lyra, hearing Bon Bon's observation, took another look at me while chewing on some hay. With me sitting right next to her, I looked like a miniature, colt version of her.

"You know, I never really noticed until you pointed that out. Heh, if somepony walked by, they would probably think we're siblings or something,” Lyra said, giving me a little nudge with her elbow.

I gave an awkward laugh. "Ha, yeah... siblings..." I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a bit of disappointment when she said "sibling." That feeling quickly dissipated when she pointed out another thing about me.

"Hey! I just realized that our names our pretty similar too! Lyra Heartstrings. Lyle Hartston. Pretty weird coincidence, right, Lyle?"

Bon Bon gave me a curious look. "Your full name is Lyle Hartston?"

I swallowed some strands of hay, which had a dry taste to it, and took a gulp of water from my glass before replying. "Yeah, I had to cut our introduction short remember?"

"Oh right. You were in a rush when you almost bumped into me a while ago. I take it everything went alright?" Bon Bon joked.

I smiled sheepishly, a blush starting to form on my face after recalling my “interesting” experience to the bathroom. "Uh, yeah. Just fine, thank you."

Both Lyra and Bon Bon giggled at my reaction. "So, Lyle Hartston? That's an interesting name. So where are you from before ending up in the Everfree Forest?" asked the earth pony.

Before I could respond to Bon Bon's question, Lyra answered for me instead. "He's from A-Mare-ica!"

Like I thought, this earned a perplexed look from Bon Bon. "A-Mare-ica? Where’s that?"

"It's a faraway place from here," I answered, trying to remain as vague as possible. "It's kind of a secluded place, so not many ponies know about it." I hoped the two mares bought it. I didn’t want to shatter the newly formed trust I made with them. Luckily, they seemed to accept my explanation that I was from some far, exotic place as they nodded..

At this point, we had finished eating dinner. Lyra brought the dirty the dishes to the sink. I trotted up to her, still a little shaky in my steps. “Need any help, Lyra?” I asked. Even though I wasn't completely used to my new body, I couldn’t just eat all their food without doing a little something in return. It was the least I could do.

She looked down at me with a warm smile. “Thanks for the offer, Lyle, but I think I can handle it here. You just make yourself comfortable while I finish this up.” Before I could say any more on the matter, the plates and utensils were wrapped in a yellow glow and began flying into the sink, where they were systematically scrubbed, rinsed, and dried, before being neatly stacked. It had only been a few minutes before she finished. She made magic look so easy.

Damn, I wish I could use magic. Better make that one of my priorities. While I’m in Equestria, I better make use of all the perks that come with it. I mean, who wouldn't want to do magic?

With the dishes washed and dried, Lyra glanced at a clock that hung on the wall of the kitchen, revealing that it was now a quarter-past nine. "It's getting pretty late, and we should sleep soon. Don't you think so, Lyle?"

Bon Bon had already gone to her room, saying something about getting up early for work, so it was just the two of us in the kitchen. I, however, didn't even feel tired at all. I felt wide awake after sleeping through most of the day. I didn't want to sleep this early; it was like reliving my childhood when my parents set a curfew. Also, back at home, I was used to staying up past midnight and even into early morning, doing whatever.

"Lyra, isn't it a little early to go to bed?" I asked.

"Lyle, growing young colts need their sleep if they want to grow up big and strong," she said in a tone that reminded me of my mother.

If I was still human, I would insist that I wasn't a little kid and maybe mix in some profanity. But, I didn't want to cause her any trouble since she was letting me stay after all. So, I reluctantly complied.. "Alright. I'll just sleep on the couch then."

Before I could take a step towards the couch, the green unicorn stepped in front of me, obstructing my path. "Lyle, you don't have to sleep on the couch. You're still hurt from last night. You can take my bed for the night instead."

The hospitality of these ponies knew no bounds. Lyra had done nothing but give to me, and I felt I should refuse her offer. It was only right. "Lyra, you don't have to do that. Really! I'm feeling much better now thanks to you. I'll sleep on the couch, and you can have your bed back." Although I tried to do the right thing, Lyra wouldn’t take no for an answer. What can I say? She was a stubborn mare.

"I don't mind letting you sleep in my bed, so you take it."

I shook my head. "No no, I insist.'

I watched as her brows furrowed and her mouth turned into a frown. "Lyle, if you're that insistent on not letting me sleep on the couch, then I guess we could share the bed. I'm sure the bed is big enough for the two of us since you're little enough," she said as she began to walk upstairs.

I was a little irritated that she called me "little." However, I felt the heat rush to my cheeks at her suggestion that we share the bed... together -- a male and female pony lying in the same bed. With the intensity of my blush, I was pretty sure my face was taking on a crimson shade like that of a rose. Remember Lyle, she's a pony. A cartoon pony. It's not like she has feelings for you. She still thinks you're a colt, and I highly doubt pedophilia exists in Equestria. Right...?

With these thoughts in mind, I slowly walked upstairs trying to catch up to her, so I can protest against the idea and give her the many reasons why we shouldn't. However, before I could speak out my thoughts, she walked out of the bathroom and levitated a brand new toothbrush to me. "Here's a spare toothbrush, Lyle, Be sure to brush your teeth before going to bed." With a sigh, I grabbed the toothbrush with my mouth and headed into the bathroom.

I was starting to get used to using hooves to grab things. How I managed to hold a toothbrush with one hoof confused me to no end. but I decided it was best to not think about it, no matter how much it didn't make sense. After brushing my teeth, which I found were only slightly different than that of a human's, I walked towards Lyra's room, light spilling out of her room into the dark hall.

As I was walking, I heard some muffled snores coming from the room across Lyra's room, which I figured was Bon Bon's room. When I entered the room, Lyra was getting another pillow set up at the bed for me. I was about to protest against the idea of sleeping together, but the door quietly closed behind me. A familiar, golden glow surrounded me, and I was brought under the covers of the bed and tucked in. Lyra turned off the light switch, bathing the room in darkness save for the sliver of moonlight coming from the crack of the curtains of the window.

She walked towards the other side of the bed and slipped under the covers. The bed was big enough to accommodate both of us with only a few inches of space between us. Though, this was too close for comfort for me.

She's a pony. She's just a pony. We're just friends sharing a bed. Nothing more!

I felt the bed shift as Lyra turned to face me. "Goodnight, Lyle."

"G-goodnight, Lyra," I managed to reply back.

Silence filled the room soon after. The only sounds heard were the soft breathing from the mare sleeping beside me and my own heartbeat. I was wide awake. I couldn't sleep with the mare sleeping only inches away from me. I decided I would use this time to plan out my next course of action.

First, learn how to use magic. I can't really do much with hooves after all. Second, get to know the ponies in Ponyville, especially the show’s stars. Third, find a way to pay back Lyra and Bon Bon. Maybe find a way to earn some bits. And fourth, find a way back home. I can probably ask the princesses for help, but to do that, I'm gonna need to convince Twilight that I'm from another universe or whatever. But... what if they don’t know how to send me back?

A foreleg draped over me, and I was suddenly pulled towards Lyra. I could tell she was still sleeping because she kept mumbling something about hands. Well, at least now I know that the fandom was right about the human thing.

She then proceeded to hug me in a vice-like grip, squeezing the air out of my lungs. CAN'T BREATHE! NEED AIR! I tried to wiggle my way out of her grip, but to no avail, I was trapped in her death grip. These mares were a lot stronger than I thought. I was at least able to position myself so that I was able to breathe and thankfully not die from suffocation. However, that left me in an uncomfortable situation since my face was now in front of hers, just barely touching.

Even in the darkness, I could still see her face. Her eyes were still closed, and her face was very peaceful. Every time she exhaled, I could feel her warm breath on my face and smell the hint of minty toothpaste from her breath. I thought it was pretty cute that there was a small trail of drool coming from the corner of her mouth.

Wait, did I just think she was cute? Well, she is... but I don't mean cute as in the 'I want to have sex with you' kind of way. I mean cute like a small puppy. Adorable, that's it! She’s adorable! Wait...

There was something about her -- her innocence that filled me with warmth. In a cartoon world where violence was a very rare occurrence, she never had to see or hear about things like war, murder, or rape that can be found in my world. If she ever found out I was human, I don't want to tell her about what my world was like. I didn't want to ruin something so pure and innocent by exposing her to the flaws of my world.

As if sensing my distress, she pulled me close to her chest and laid her head on top of mine, barely avoiding the horn at the top of my head. I lost myself in her warm, comforting embrace, the hairs of her soft fur brushing against my face. I felt all my worries melt away.

I guess I could worry about that later if the time ever comes. For now, I guess I should just enjoy my stay in Equestria. I can get used to this. I buried my face into her neck, enjoying her smell and touch.

A wet sensation on top of my head -- that was all it took to ruin the moment. The saliva that was leaking out of her mouth was now trailing down onto my mane. All the adorableness I thought she held at that point was gone in an instant, shattered by the wet feeling that trailed from the top of my head. Since I couldn't move at all, I was forced to sleep with Lyra drooling on me. And so, I spent my night as Lyra's huggable pony pillow.

~~~~~~~

While the residents of Ponyville were fast asleep in their homes, a certain lavender unicorn was still awake inside her tree house. In one of the windows, a faint light can be seen. A single candle sat on a wooden desk. Most ponies would think that it would be a bad idea to have a lit candle inside a tree, where tinder and firewood was abundant. But what most ponies didn’t know was that Twilight's home was actually enchanted to protect the tree house and books from fire and such.

Scrolls and books were strewn all over the desk. Star Swirl the Bearded's Theory of Teleportation. Object Displacement and You. Teleportation 101. Introduction to Child Psychology. Twilight searched through all these scrolls and books, fervently writing on a parchment, using her quill with her magic. Her only company was a brown owl, perched on the window sill of her library. Her draconic friend was nowhere to be seen, most likely snoring away and dreaming of knights in shining armor and damsels in distress.

Something was on Twilight's mind. It was a feeling, as if something didn't fit or was missing. This very feeling was connected to the appearance of the unicorn colt. How did Lyle end up in the Everfree Forest? Lyle doesn't seem like the colt to cause trouble. Also, why wasn't he sent to an orphanage if his parents are gone? Something doesn't seem right, she thought.

A loud yawn escaped her, her eyes straining to stay open. The fact that he looks like Lyra just seems too uncanny. His name even sounds too much like Lyra. As she pondered on the mysteries surrounding the mysterious colt, she blew out the candle, shrouding the library in the darkness of the night.

As she began to trot up the stairs to her room, she turned her head towards her feathered friend. "Goodnight, Owlowiscious."

The owl responded with a simple "Hoo." Twilight smiled at her nocturnal assistant and headed towards her room, where a baby dragon slept. Maybe some questions will be answered at the Everfree Forest. With that thought, she slipped under the covers of her bed and drifted into slumber.

Meet the Crusaders

I awoke to a gentle nudge on my shoulder and the sound of a soft voice. "Wake up, Lyle. It's time for you to go to school."

I rolled onto my side and snuggled into the comfortable warmth of the blanket. "Mmm, Mom, I don't want to school," I groaned. I heard a small laugh near me.

Grudgingly, I cracked open my eyes and was met with the bright light of the sun. I shut my eyes and stretched my limbs while giving a large yawn. When I opened my eyes again, I realized I wasn't in my room, all the events from yesterday catching up to me. By the side of my bed, Lyra stood there, giving me big grin. My eyes widened when I realized what I called her.

"Oh! Uh, morning, Lyra," I said with a sheepish grin. She tittered again at my attempt to correct myself. It hadn't been a week and already I was embarrassing myself by calling Lyra my mom. Smooth, Lyle…

"Good morning, Lyle. You better get ready. You don't want to miss your first day of school."

School? Oh right, she thinks I'm a colt. Wait a minute. I have to go back to school all over again?! Well, there go my plans...

I tilted my head. "School? I have to go to school?"

"Yes, Lyle. All good little fillies and colts have to go to school," she said, much like how a mother speaks to a child.

Something tells me that tone of voice is going to get old real quick. I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. "Yeah... I don't want to go to school. Been there, done that."

"Aw, don’t be like that, Lyle. You'll get to make new friends and learn new things. It'll be fun."

I really didn't want to repeat school all over again. It wasn't that great the first time. I doubted it'll be any better the second. But since she didn't believe in my story of me being an adult and all, I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Also, the smile on her face made it much harder to decline.

"Fine," I reluctantly agreed.

My lack of enthusiasm went unnoticed by her. "Great! After you've cleaned up, come downstairs and have some breakfast." She exited the room and made her way downstairs.

I trotted out of the room and towards the bathroom, once again having to use my mouth to open the door. After I brushed my teeth and did my morning business, I decided that I needed a shower after Lyra drooled all over my mane last night. I felt strands of my mane stuck together by Lyra's dried spittle, a feeling that was quite gross in my book. I didn't find a shower in the bathroom. Instead, I found a porcelain bathtub.

I turned on the warm water, and while the tub filled up I called out to Lyra: "Hey Lyra! Where do you keep the bath towels?!"

"It's in the linen closet next to the bathroom!" she shouted from downstairs.

When I saw that the tub was filled just enough, I turned off the water. I went to the linen closet, grabbed a towel with my teeth, and went back to the bathroom where I hung the towel on a rack. When I took off the bandages, I noticed that most of my cuts had healed, though they were still kind of tender. Well that healed quickly. Magic is so useful. I hopped into the tub with a splash. Luckily, none of the water spilled out, and I didn't hit my head on the side of the tub, much to my relief.

After washing myself to the best of my ability, I dried myself and headed downstairs into the dining room, where Lyra was eating a bowl of cereal. Next to her bowl was the cereal box with the title "Celesti-O's" and a picture of a cartoon sun. I thought it was kind of funny that they had a cereal named after their ruler. I mean, we didn't have any cereal named after our presidents, though that does sound interesting.I hopped onto a seat and poured some cereal into my bowl. The lack of hands made it much more difficult, causing some of the cereal to miss its target. Lyra, however, didn't seem to mind and cleaned up my mess. I felt like a bad house guest for having her clean up after me. I had to repay her for her hospitality later somehow.

Anyways, the cereal tasted like Cheerios, which was okay for my tastes. As I was eating, dropping my spoon a couple times, I noticed that Bon Bon wasn't around for breakfast like the morning before.

"Hey Lyra, where's Bon Bon? She's not joining us for breakfast?" I asked between spoonfuls of cereal.

She swallowed a bite of her cereal. "No, she had to get up early to open up her candy store."

So she does run a candy shop. It was interesting to get a glimpse of a background pony’s life, like watching a story that goes unnoticed, the story that goes on behind the scenes. Sure, there were speculations made by fans from the little appearance of ponies like Lyra and Bon Bon, but right now, I got to see another side of My Little Pony that no one else will get the chance to see. These background ponies had lives of their own and weren’t just hanging around Ponyville to run and scream when trouble arises. There was more to them than just standing behind the main characters, and I was living in the home of one of them.

With our breakfast finished, Lyra levitated the bowls and spoons into the sink, where it was washed and dried. She levitated a sack lunch into a small brown saddle bag before placing it on my back. It felt weird to wear a saddle bag, sort of like a backpack but lower down my back.

"I packed your lunch and some school supplies for your first day of school. Now let's head on over there, shall we?" she said as we walked out the door. I just gave a nod because I was still reluctant about going to school all over again.

When I stepped outside, I was met with the vibrant town I've come to know from the show. The town was filled with activity as ponies began opening up shops. Little colts and fillies ran about, probably headed towards school. Pegasi flew around here and there, moving clouds and going from place to place. The town and its inhabitants made up all the colors of the spectrum. Everything stood out vibrantly, even something as unnoticeable as a small pebble stood out. The colors were practically screaming at me.

As I glanced at the sights before me while walking with Lyra towards the schoolhouse, I noticed two or three ponies take a moment to glance back at me. The sight of seeing a miniature Lyra trotting next to her must have been an interesting sight, but I ignored the glances and kept on looking around town. It felt weird to see everything in person. I could smell, see, and hear everything around me, though the background music from the show was missing.

While I was engrossed with the sights around me, I bumped into a fluffy pink blob, which I soon found out was a pony’s tail. Thank god, it was just the tail. I didn’t want to ruin my tour of the town by accidentally walking into awkward situations. When I crashed headfirst into the pink blob, I took a mouthful of the tail and quickly spat it out, all the while apologizing to the pony I bumped into.

"Sorry about that! I wasn't looking where I was going." When I looked back at the pony I ran into, I froze.

The incredibly pink mare turned around, a smile on her face "It's alright. Hey! I've never seen you before! And I know all the ponies in Ponyville!" She gave an audible gasp. "Oh my gosh! I need to go now! It was nice meeting you!" I barely got a word in before the party-crazed mare zipped away, leaving a trail of dust behind.

I know where this is going. Knowing Pinkie Pie, she’s probably going to throw me a surprise party at some point during the day like in the show.

Lyra trotted up to my side. "That was just Pinkie Pie. She's really nice and friendly once you get to know her." I merely shook my head at Pinkie’s antics.

After my meeting with the pink pony, we got to the schoolhouse without any incident. The school looked like any other stereotypical school. It was a red wooden building with a small playground behind it and a flagpole in front. A sign depicting an open book in front of the school made it more obvious that this was our destination.

As we walked into the schoolhouse, we attracted the attention of all the colts and fillies of the classroom and Cheerilee, the schoolteacher. The magenta earth pony gave a cheerful smile. "Hello Lyra. What brings you here today?"

"I'm just here to drop off Lyle. He's going to be attending school here,” Lyra said while pointing a hoof to me.

The schoolteacher noticed me trying to hide behind Lyra. Did I mention I didn’t want to go to school? I didn't like all the attention I was getting from all the colts and fillies. I never really liked the spotlight on me. Cheerilee gave a welcoming smile at the sight of me. "Well hello there, Lyle. My name is Cheerilee. I'm the teacher of this school."

I gave a meek "Hello" and tried to avoid eye contact with all the ponies around me. Seeing how Cheerilee could take over at this point, Lyra got ready to leave. "Now Lyle, be a good colt now. Miss Cheerilee is a nice pony, and you'll have a great time here. Also, remember to be back before dark." And with that, she left the class, leaving me to be the center of attention.

"Now class, let's give Lyle here a warm welcome," said Cheerilee. The class erupted into applause with the little colts and fillies clopping their hooves together. "Lyle, can you tell the class a little about yourself?"

I scratched the back of my head as I thought of something to tell them, something that wasn’t related to humans. "Well, I just arrived in Ponyville just recently, and I'm now living with Lyra for the time being," I managed to say out loud. Even though I was speaking in front of little colts and fillies, I was still a little nervous being in front a large group of people, or in this case, ponies.

"Lyle, you can sit in the open seat next to Apple Bloom," she said as she pointed to the corner seat of the room. As I took a seat, I noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting in the front center of the room. Apple Bloom sat to my left. To the left of her was Scootaloo, while Sweetie Belle sat behind the orange pegasus. In the back row I saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon snickering, probably making fun of me in some way.

"Hiya, Lyle. Ah'm Apple Bloom," the yellow filly said with a southern accent.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," I replied back.

Cheerilee hushed the class as she began her lessons. The class was going over multiplication and division, basic math operations. It hadn't even been five minutes and before I lost complete interest in the subject. Instead of listening to her lecture and taking notes, I chose to stare out the window across the classroom, watching life outside. It was a beautiful, sunny day outside, and I was stuck in school. I held nothing against Cheerilee or the school, by no means. I was treated nicely so far, but that was expected since this was the first day of going through school again. Honestly, school wasn’t interesting to me, especially since I went through it already.

I get the chance to go to Equestria, and I'm spending it inside a classroom. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. I should be out there right now! Just when I thought I get to skip out on classes, I get put into another class. Just my fucking luck.

Every now and then I noticed one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders give a glance towards my direction. I practically felt their eyes on me. It was a little unnerving but understandable since they were just a couple of kids and I was the new kid around. I did my best to ignore it, but I was still curious of why they were looking at me so much. Is there something on my face?

As I was busy staring out the window, I didn’t notice Cheerilee waiting patiently next to my desk and loudly clearing her throat to get my attention. "Lyle, could you tell the class what the answer to the problem is?"

She probably knew I wasn't paying attention by the blank expression I had since class started. When I looked at the chalkboard, it was a simple math problem: 2486 divided by 2. This problem wasn't hard at all, especially since I was taking a college level math class. Thank god, it’s not history. So with a quick reply, I gave my answer. "1243."

The wide-eyed stare from her told me that she wasn’t expecting me to answer the problem correctly or that quickly. "That's… correct, Lyle."

Glancing back at the Crusaders again, I saw that all three of them were staring at me simultaneously with surprised expressions of their own. I shrugged off their stares. It wasn’t like I did anything impressive. Fractions and basic operations – all of that was easy. Cheerilee went on with her lesson. She would call on me occasionally just to make sure I was paying attention, but I would give the correct answer just as quickly as I did the first. I turned my attention back to the window, with the same bored expression on my face. Whoever came up with the expression, “time flies,” is completely wrong. Time doesn’t fly, especially when you’re bored. It crawls... So with nothing to do, I sat in my chair and stared at the chalkboard.

I lost myself in my own boredom. Cheerilee’s lessons reduced to mindless droning. Seconds went by. Seconds became minutes, and even then that felt like hours. The only indication that time was moving was the sound of the clock’s hands ticking as it hung on the wall at the side of the room. The only thing keeping me occupied was the mystery of my arrival. How did I get here? I remember going to bed yesterday, and then I woke up in Equestria. Did I die and wake up here? Maybe it was a magical wormhole. Discord, maybe? The sound of the school bell ringing shook me out of my boredom and my thoughts. It was time for lunch. Solving the mystery can be done after I've eaten.

As all the colts and fillies filed out of the room, I hung back to avoid being crowded by the children. When most of the little ponies had exited the room, I headed towards the door, only to be confronted by three fillies as soon as I got out. I recognized them as none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. No surprise there.

They all gave a friendly smile. It was Apple Bloom who spoke up first. "Hiya Lyle. I want you to meet my friends," she nodded towards the other two.

"Hi, my name is Sweetie Belle," the white unicorn said.

"And I'm Scootaloo," followed the orange pegasus.

I waved to them. "Hey, I’m Lyle Hartston. But you can just call me Lyle.”

They gave me weird looks. "Lyle Hartston? That's an unusual name," Sweetie Belle said with an adorable little tilt of her head.

I should have changed my name to something that doesn’t make me stand out. "I've been getting that a lot lately,” I said casually.

I saw Sweetie Belle wince at my comment. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it.”

I shrugged. "It's okay. I'm not offended by it or anything." Sweetie Belle's smile returned to its former state as I said this.

"Hey! You don't have a cutie mark either!" I turned around to see Scootaloo standing behind me.

My eyes trailed down her hoof to my flank, where there seemed to be a lack of a cutie mark. I must have forgotten about that until Scootaloo pointed it out. After all, I wasn't used to having any sort of mark on my butt.

I didn't know what to say, so I acted casual about it like it was normal, which would be if I was still human. "Huh, so I don't."

The three fillies looked at me with shock before giving me the biggest grins. "Hey, ya can join our club!" As soon as Apple Bloom said this, the three fillies took a deep breath. Oh shit.

"WE'RE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" the three fillies shouted.

I covered my ears. AGH! FUCK, MY EARS! My ears rang from their ear-piercing shout, like nails stabbing into my ears. As I rubbed my ears, they continued to talk about their club as they took turns speaking.

"We're on a quest to find out who we are!"

"And we won't stop 'til we have our cutie marks!"

"And we want ya to join our club!"

They all gave me huge smiles and stared at me with their big, puppy-dog eyes. Seeing their pleading looks, it was impossible for me to refuse their offer. Adorableness -- my weakness!

I sighed in defeat at the hooves of the adorable little fillies. "Alright, alright, I'll join. Just please stop with the looks."

They all cheered with glee at my response. "Alright! A new member!" Scootaloo shouted.

After recruiting me as a fellow member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we all walked to an empty table and ate our lunch. Apple Bloom packed two apples and a box of apple juice. Sweetie Belle packed a dandelion sandwich and a box of grape juice. Scootaloo had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a carton of milk. In the lunch Lyra packed me, I had two apples and a box of grape juice.

As they ate their lunch, I dug into mine. The moment I took a bite out of one of the apples, a sweet taste filled my mouth. It was one of the best apples I had ever tasted. Those other apples I've had before this? They were nothing compared to this. Fuck the apples back at home, the apples here are amazing!

"Wow, these apples taste delicious!" I said, taking another bite into the red fruit.

Apple Bloom giggled at my comment. "Thanks. Ah'm glad ya like it. Mah family grows the best apples in Equestria!"

I gave moans of pleasure as I finished my lunch. The girls just giggled at my antics. I laughed with them. Maybe school wouldn't be so boring with them around?

That small moment of joy was smothered as soon as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked up to us in their stuck-up way with their noses in the air. I felt their eyes looking at me, looking for any flaws that needed to be pointed out.

Diamond Tiara came up to us, radiating an air of superiority as she looked down at us. “Oh, look. Another blank flank to add to your group. Better watch out Silver Spoon. It looks like they’re multiplying.”

“Yeah. They can be, like, a family of blank flanks now,” replied Silver Spoon.

I could have replied with a sharp retort, but they were just kids. They would mature eventually; at least I hoped they would. Instead, I chose to ignore them. “Yeah yeah, that’s great. So Apple Bloom, can I get a few more of these apples from your farm?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes shifted between me and Diamond Tiara, clueless to what I was doing. “Uh, sure…”

Just as I thought, I managed to rile up Diamond Tiara by ignoring her. “Hey, I’m talking to you, blank flank!” she shouted while pointing at me.

I carried on with my conversation as if Diamond Tiara wasn’t here. “So tell me a little more about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What do you girls do?” I gave Apple Bloom a wink, hoping she would get where I was going with this. Thankfully, she did.

“Oh! We do all sorts of stuff to get our cutie marks.” From there, Apple Bloom began to list everything the Crusaders had done so far to get their cutie marks, from doing ridiculous things to extreme stunts, all of which resulted in some kind of mess and no cutie mark. Even Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined the conversation as they talked about their past experiences.

“Hey, you can’t just ignore me like that!” yelled Diamond Tiara, though her words fell on deaf ears. Eventually, she and Silver Spoon left, mumbling something about us being rude blank flanks. No doubt they were a little more than annoyed by my little act and would probably come back again to bully me.

“And that’s how you deal with ponies like them,” I said. I got an ovation from the girls as I just drove away their bullies without doing anything.

“Did you see Diamond Tiara’s face before she left? She was so mad!” Scootaloo said as she laughed.

“Yeah, how’d ya do that, Lyle?” asked Apple Bloom.

I smiled. “Let’s just say I deal with this kind of thing a lot. Don’t give them the attention they want and ignore them. They’ll lose interest eventually.” When you deal with trolls and pre-adolescent kids on the internet on a daily basis, you learn to develop immunity to them. You die a little on the inside, but there's nothing you can do about it.

By the time we finished eating, the bell rang again, signaling all the colts and fillies to head back inside the class. I went back to class with my new friends at my side. I was an outsider to Equestria, and they felt like outsiders for not having a cutie mark. We were going to get along just fine.

The rest of the lessons were about the history of Equestria and reading and writing. I could feel Diamond Tiara giving me the stink-eye, but I paid more attention to the lecture on Equestrian history than her, since not much of it was talked about in the show. I had a hard time writing with my new hand-less body, so I tried using my mouth to write. My penmanship was atrocious and looked like chicken scratch, and my pencil was covered in my saliva and bite marks. I really missed having hands.

A few hours later, the bell rang again indicating the end of class. Before anypony could get out, Cheerilee gave one last announcement. "Have fun everyone and don't forget that tomorrow is Nightmare Night!"

Is it that time already? I better get a costume ready for tomorrow night, and I know just the perfect costume. All I need to do now is learn some magic at Twilight's and get a costume from Rarity.

As I packed my things to leave, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo came up to my desk. “Wanna hang out with us, Lyle?” Scootaloo asked.

I would have said yes, but I had things that needed to be done. "Sorry girls, but I gotta get my costume ready for Nightmare Night. Maybe next time."

They all nodded understandably, and we said our goodbyes. As I was about to leave, Cheerilee stopped me. "Lyle, a word please?"

I walked back inside. "Yes, Miss Cheerilee? Am I trouble?" I could think of a couple reasons.

To my surprise, she shook her head. "No, you're not in trouble." I gave a sigh of relief. "Lyle, how are you adjusting to this school? Are there any problems?"

"Uh, no. Everything's fine, I guess." Well, that’s kind of random. Why is she asking me this?

Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin while humming in thought. "Lyle, you seem to be a very smart colt. Smarter than you should be for your age." I hope so. I wouldn't be in college if I weren't. "It's not that there's anything wrong with being smart. It just means you're ‘special’."

Special, huh? I could practically see the air quotes around that word. The next few minutes were about Cheerilee's observation of my behavior in class. I didn't pay attention much. I nodded my head to the conversation as if I was listening. At the end of this, she would probably expect me to apologize for dozing off in class.

"... so do you see how special you are?"

"Mmhmm, yeah," I automatically responded.

"That's wonderful, Lyle!" I didn't know why she was so happy. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't that important.

"Okay, so are we done here, Miss Cheerilee?"

"Oh, yes, you may leave now. Sorry for keeping you here."

I began trotting out the door again. "Bye, Miss Cheerilee." I waved back to the mare, which she happily returned. If I had stayed long enough, I would've noticed her pull out a piece of paper to write a letter.

I wandered around aimlessly trying to find Rarity's boutique and Twilight's library. I didn't find either place, but I was able to find Lyra at one of the market stands buying some grocery.

I walked up to her. "Hi Lyra."

She turned away from the vendor after purchasing some leafy vegetables. "Oh, hi Lyle. How was school?"

"It was great. Do you know where I can find somepony to make me a costume for Nightmare Night as well as Twilight's library?"

"Hmm, Rarity's boutique is just around the corner from here, and I think Twilight's library is in the opposite direction. Oh, and since you're going to get a costume, here are some bits to pay for it." She handed me a couple of bits, which I placed into my saddlebag. I kept a mental note to repay Lyra for those bits as soon as I can get them, meaning I had to hunt for a job.

"Thanks Lyra. I'll see you later." With that, I ran into the direction of Rarity's boutique. It wasn’t long until I came upon Carousel Boutique. I entered the building, a light jingle coming from the bell attached to the door, signaling the resident of my arrival.

A white unicorn with a pristine indigo mane came trotting down the stairs towards the entrance. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique." Of course, I recognized the pony as Rarity. When she got a look at me she said, "Hello, my name is Rarity and how may I help you today?"

"Hello Miss Rarity. My name’s Lyle. Excuse me, but can you make me a costume for Nightmare Night?"

She nodded. "Why yes of course, deary. What is it you would like me to make?"

"I just need a black business suit, a red tie, and a white spandex mask if that’s possible. The mask has to be a fabric where I can still breathe and see through."

She gave me a quizzical look. "That is certainly an odd request for a costume, but nevertheless I will make it to the best of my ability," she said with a smile.

"Okay, how much do I owe you?"

She told me the price, and I felt disheartened at hearing the cost. "I'm sorry, Miss Rarity, but I’m kind of short a few bits."

"It's alright dear. I'll still make your costume. Consider it a discount from me, no charge at all."

Wow, she really is the Element of Generosity. "Thank you, Miss Rarity."

"Please, darling, call me Rarity. Now let’s get you measured."

She spent the next half hour levitating a measuring tape around me, scrutinizing at every little detail of my body while making mental notes of my sizes. When that was all done, she led me back to the entrance.

“I’ll have your costume finished in no time, so stop by tomorrow to pick it up.”

“Thanks again for doing this on such short notice. You really are a great seamstress if you could get it done that quickly,” I said.

She tittered at the compliment. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just love doing what I do best.”

“Well, I still say it’s impressive. I’ll see you later, Rarity. It was nice meeting you.”

“It was a delight to meet you too, Lyle.”

We waved goodbye as we parted. My next stop was Twilight's library. I walked towards the large tree house in the distance. Seeing the tree house in person was a whole new experience compared to looking at it from a screen. I was dwarfed by the size of the tree that was as big as a house. When I knocked on the door of the library, a small purple dragon with green spikes opened the door.

"Hi. You do realize this is a library, right?" he asked.

Oh right. Forgot about that. “Oh yeah… ”

“Come on in,” he said, holding the door for me, “so are you here to check out a book?”

I nodded. "Yes, I am."

He led me inside the library where hundreds of books lined the walls of the tree house. "My name's Spike by the way, what's yours?"

"You can call me Lyle," I replied.

"So what kind of book are you looking for?"

I scanned the titles of the books in front of me. "I'm looking for books on basic magic, levitation, and illusions. Any books on them will do."

He climbed up a ladder and began picking out books. "I take it you’re into reading about magic?”

"Yep." Who wouldn’t be interested in magic, especially if it’s real?

"You remind me of my friend, Twilight. She's the librarian of this place. I'm just the assistant." He came back down the ladder with three books in his arms.

"Thanks, I promise I'll bring them back later. You can put them in my saddlebag." As I made my way out of the library, I gave a wave to the purple dragon. "It was nice meeting you Spike. See you later."

The sun had already begun to give the sky an orange glow by the time I left the library. With all my tasks done for the day, I headed back towards Lyra and Bon Bon's home, eager to start learning magic.

~~~~~~~

As soon as the door to the library closed, Twilight walked downstairs as Spike was sweeping the floor. "Who was that, Spike?"

He stopped sweeping to answer. "He's a unicorn I haven't seen before. His name's Lyle. He kinda looks a lot like Lyra."

"Oh?" Twilight said with a curious look on her face. "What did he come here for?"

He gave her a piece of paper listing the books checked out. “He checked out some books on magic.”

She scanned the list of books. “What kind of magic? Nothing dangerous, I hope?”

“I think he said wanted a book on levitation and amuse-sions, or something,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Illusions, Spike,” she corrected.

“Yeah, that. You know, he reminds me of another unicorn who studies too hard,” he joked.

Twilight just huffed at this. Though something was strange with the books Lyle requested. Normally, unicorns as young as Lyle don't read books as advanced as the ones he checked out. First, he lives alone without his parents, and now he's reading about advanced magic spells? Okay, maybe the reading part isn’t that strange, she thought, memories of herself reading in the library coming to her mind. But what would he need them for? Lyle was a peculiar colt.

A claw waving in her face shook her out of her thoughts. “Twilight, you okay?”

“I’m fine, Spike. I was just thinking.”

Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back. “Thinking about what?”

She shook her head. “It’s nothing important.”

“Well, can we go to Pinkie’s party now? It’s going to start soon.”

“Right, sorry about that,” she apologized. “Let’s go.” With Spike on her back, Twilight walked towards the location of Pinkie’s party, the little colt still on her mind. Maybe I should ask him when I see him.

Party Time!

By the time the sun had set, I finally arrived at Lyra and Bon Bon's house. For some reason, I didn't see the lights on inside. I guess Lyra and Bon Bon aren’t home yet.

Once again using my mouth, I opened the door to the house. I hoped this wouldn't be an everyday thing, using my mouth to hold things. When I took a step inside the house, the door slammed shut behind me, shrouding everything in absolute darkness. That was until the lights turned on and about a dozen ponies appeared from their hidings spots, shouting "SURPRISE!"

I had nearly forgotten that Pinkie was going to throw me a surprise party, and if I was still wearing pants, I would have soiled them by now. Thankfully, there weren’t any messes that needed to be cleaned. The surprise made me jump a good two feet back into the closed door as I let out a yelp. My heart skipped a beat as I was caught off guard, and I was now clinging to my chest, trying to slow my fast-beating heart.

The crazy pink mare, the one and only physics-defying Pinkie Pie, was now in front of my face, just a hair away. "Hey! Were you surprised? Hmm? Were ya? Were ya? Huh? Huh?"

Pinkie obviously didn't know the concept of personal space since she was so close to my face that I could practically smell the baked goods she indulged in. It smelled kind of nice actually, like walking into a bakery. Seeing how she worked in a bakery and how her life revolved around sweets, I could see why she smelled the way she did.

With Pinkie being at a distance that was too close for comfort for me, I took a step away from her, a blush on my face. "Yeah, I was surprised alright. Thanks for almost giving me a heart attack.”

“You’re welcome!” she replied, oblivious to the sarcasm dripping from my voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Hi! You must be Lyle! My name is Pinkie Pie but you can just call me Pinkie and this is your..." She paused for dramatic effect. "Welcome-to-Ponyville party!" The only word I got from Pinkie’s greeting was “Hi.” The rest was a blur since she was talking so fast. She was pretty much a ticking time bomb of energy ready to cause a nuclear explosion of confetti.

Looking around, I saw that the whole room was decorated. Tables were set up, covered in an assortment of treats and a punch bowl. Streamers and confetti were strewn all around. Party music filled the room, coming from a phonograph that was placed at the corner of the room. Above us was a large banner saying, “Welcome to Ponyville!” I noticed Lyra and Bon Bon standing next to the treats giving me a wave with their hooves. I waved back with a grin. I had a feeling Lyra knew this was going to happen. They weren't the only ponies I noticed in the room.

I recognized the trio of fillies as they galloped up to me, and if they hadn't slowed down, I would have thought they were going tackle me to the ground. They all beamed at me. "Hi Lyle!"

I gave a friendly smile back. "Hey there, girls. What are you all doing here?"

"Pinkie invited us to come," said Sweetie Belle.

"She said that there was going to be a party for you," added Scootaloo.

"So she invited us, mah sis, and her friends to the party," finished Apple Bloom.

It was then I noticed the rest of the stars of the show, minus Twilight, in the room. When they took notice of me, the ones who I hadn't met yet introduced themselves.

The first to introduce herself was the orange earth pony wearing a light brown stetson hat. "Hiya sugarcube! Ah'm Applejack, apple farmer of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom here told me ya like our apples," she said with a grin.

"I don't just like them. I love them!" I exclaimed. Talking to her made me think about the apples I ate for lunch. Also, her name made me start thinking about the cereal. I wonder if the Apple family have their own cereal brand? If they did have their own cereal, it would have been hilarious if it was named after her.

"Well, come on by Sweet Apple Acres any time ya want ta try some of our apples."

“I’ll be sure to stop by.” I turned to the next pony, a familiar cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.

"Hi, I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria," she boasted as she hovered in the air with a prideful look on her face.

"I'm sure you are," I said while rolling my eyes when she wasn't looking. "It's nice to meet you. Maybe you can show me a Sonic Rainboom later."

"You've heard of the Sonic Rainboom?" she asked gleefully.

"Uh, yeah, I have. I mean, who hasn't heard of it?" I lied, trying to correct my mistake.

She kept her prideful smirk. "Well, I'll be glad to show it to you some other time, squirt." She ruffled my mane. I grumbled under my breath. I'm not a squirt...

Finally, I met the last pony of the girls and the most shy of them all. The yellow pegasus with light pink mane was trying to make herself unnoticeable by hiding behind Rarity. I made my way over to them and planned my approach to Fluttershy.

"Hello Rarity. It's nice to see you here."

She turned away from the timid pegasus she was chatting with. "Hello again Lyle. I’ve already started on your costume, and I just want to let you know that your costume will be finished soon."

"Alright then. Again, thank you for making my costume."

"It’s no problem at all, darling. It was my pleasure."

"So who's your friend, Rarity?" I motioned towards Fluttershy, who was now trying to make herself as small as possible.

Using her magic, Rarity pushed the timid pegasus in front of her. I could tell she wanted to run away at that point, but instead, she hid behind her long mane. With a little coaxing from Rarity, Fluttershy finally spoke up. "My name is Fluttershy..." she whispered.

I didn't have to listen closely since I knew what her name was. "Well, hi Fluttershy. My name's Lyle," I said quietly, trying not to startle or scare her. From the surprised look on Rarity’s face, she probably wasn’t expecting me to be able to hear the barely audible introduction.

"Fluttershy's a really nice name," I complimented. I tried to get her to come out of her shell a little bit at a time. Fluttershy peeked out from her mane and gave a small squeak in what I assumed was a “Thank you.” Confound these ponies, they drive me to hnnnnng. Seeing how I wasn't going to be able to coax her out of her shell completely, I said, "It was really nice meeting you, Fluttershy. And it was great to see you again too, Rarity."

The door opened, revealing the remaining party guests. The party just wouldn’t be complete without Twilight and Spike. I greeted the two of them as they came through the door: "Hey Spike. Hi Twilight. Welcome to the party."

"Hi Lyle. Are you having fun so far?" Twilight asked.

I smiled. "I'm having a great time."

"All of Pinkie's parties are awesome! I wouldn't miss out on any of them," said Spike.

While the older mares got together and talked, I headed towards the table filled with sweets. The first thing I tried as soon as I got to the table was one of Pinkie's famous cupcakes. It was a vanilla cupcake with light green frosting and a white stripe swirling around the green. The moment I took my first bite, my mouth was filled with an orgasmic sensation. Oh my god... Best. Fucking. Cupcake. Ever. The cupcake was an explosion of sweetness on taste buds. The cupcake was so good that I shoved the whole thing in my mouth in an instant.

After finishing the delectable treats, I joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their merriment. They all looked at me with smiles on their faces.

“Lyle, we’ve got a surprise for ya!” exclaimed Apple Bloom.

“A surprise?” I wondered what it was.

My vision was cut off by a pair of orange hooves coming from behind me. “You’ll see soon enough,” said Scootaloo. “Just hold out your hooves.” I sat down and did as I was told. I heard some shuffling. My ears swivel towards the source of the sound; the unfamiliar sensation of my ears moving was still unsettling like the rest of my new body. Something warm and soft was placed on my outstretched hooves.

“You can look now,” said the voice that was unmistakably Sweetie Belle’s.

Scootaloo lifted her hooves, giving me a look at what was the so called “surprise.” I looked down at my hooves and looked at the object resting in my hooves. It was a simple, red scarf. Stitched at one end was the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ emblem, a filly wearing a cape on a blue background. Honestly, I was expecting a cape, but the scarf looked pretty good too. No doubt there was a grin on my face. “Wow, thanks.”

“You are now officially a fellow member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” said Sweetie Belle. “I would have made you a cape, but I kinda ran out of fabric and made you a scarf instead.” All three of them cheered for me as I was now part of their clique.

Pinkie bounced over towards us. “Alright, now who wants to play some games?” We all nodded.

It’s probably going to be games for kids. Hey, maybe it won’t be so bad?

~~~~~~~

Twilight and Spike met up with the other girls. They were all talking about the new unicorn colt, but at the moment her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to find out more about Lyle, but if she asked him directly, it would seem overly suspicious.

As these thoughts clouded her mind, the orange cowpony spoke up. "What's the matter, Twi? Ya seem ta be spacin' out there."

She turned her attention to the mare and tried to push her thoughts aside. "Oh, everything's alright. It's just..." She couldn't lie to her friends. Maybe I can ask what they think about him. "What do you think of Lyle?"

Applejack raised a brow. "What do Ah think of him? Well, he seems like a pretty nice colt. Why do ya ask?"

"It’s nothing really. It’s just… Don’t you think there’s something ‘off’ about him?” There was another confused look from Applejack. "Look, let me explain. Two nights ago, Lyra found him at her doorstep, covered in cuts after running out of the Everfree Forest. He has no idea how he got there, and he says that he's been living on his own without parents even though he’s so young. He looks almost exactly like Lyra, and even their names are similar too! Now tell me, doesn't this seem a little off to you?"

Applejack tapped her chin with a hoof. "Twilight, Ah think yer just overthinkin' it. Though, he sounds like a runaway foal who got lost in the forest. Him looking like Lyra and having almost the same name as her are just coincidence. Lighten up, sugarcube. He probably had a rough time. Take it easy on him will ya?"

Twilight let out a sigh. What if Applejack's right? Maybe I am overthinking it? What if he’s just a lost runaway colt? Though... there are still some things that don't add up. When she saw the colt playing with the three fillies, a warm smile was brought to her face. Maybe I’ll ask him some other time. I should just do what Applejack said and relax a bit.

~~~~~~~

“Let’s start off with a classic – Pin the Tail on the Pony!” Pinkie shouted. She dragged me and the fillies to a wall with a drawing of a pony attached to it. Looking closely, the pony in the picture looked like…

Me… Wasn’t expecting that.

A piece of cloth was suddenly wrapped around my eyes, blinding me, and what I assumed was the pin holding the tail was put in my mouth. Thankfully, I wasn’t holding the pin by its sharp point.

“Ready, Lyle?”

“Sure, let me jus—“

I was cut off as I was spun around and around. After coming to a halt, I tried to keep my balance on my hooves, which was strangely difficult even though I had four legs, all the while trying not to throw up. Even with the blindfold on, it felt like the room was spinning.

I heard Apple Bloom’s voice to my left. “Come on, Lyle! You can do it! Just move forward.”

I lifted one hoof, only to fall down. Everything I learned about walking disappeared. I shakily stood up and started the walking process again. My hooves were wobbly, and when I felt like I was about to fall, I put my weight in the opposite direction, causing me to veer the other way.

“Go left!”

“No, go right!”

“Turn the other way! It’s behind ya now!”

“You’re going the wrong way!”

I heard everyone’s voice shouting and giving me directions, adding more to my confusion. I ran in one direction when I began to fall, then another direction to correct my balance. I was zigzagging all over the place, moving like I was drunk. At this point, I had zero sense of balance and direction and was blindly listening to everyone.

“It’s in front of you now!” Sweetie Belle shouted. I stopped as soon as I heard Sweetie Belle’s voice. It was about time I ended this game.

If the poster was just in front of me, then all I had to do was head straight ahead. I adjusted the grip on the pin between my teeth, and composed myself so that the room wasn’t spinning so much. Ok, just make a quick run forward, and this will be all over. I took a deep breath before charging forward.

*Thump*

Unfortunately, my goal was closer than I thought. It was a big mistake to run forward as I just rammed my head into the wall. I dropped the pin upon smashing my head into the wall and began to lose my balance once again. To keep myself from falling again, I sat on my rump – another big mistake. The pricking sensation on my bottom was enough to tell me what had happened. A loud yelp escaped my lips before I leapt and smacked my face against the wall again.

Pinkie, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom let out painful hiss as they watched me and all my grace, or lack of it.

“Ooh, that’s gotta sting,” Pinkie said,” but you should see how close you got!”

I lifted my blindfold and looked up to see the poster hanging in front of me. You gotta be kidding me. I looked behind me to see another tail right next to my own. Really?!

~~~~~~~

Pinkie, the Crusaders, and I were now standing around a large basin filled with water and apples. An adhesive bandage was now on my butt. Embarrassing? Yes, it was. At least we were going to play something that had less sharp objects involved.

The little incident with the previous party game didn’t keep her from smiling. “Okay, on the count of three, we all reach for an apple.”

I looked down at the basin, eying the plump, red apple closest to me. I just had to dunk my head in and pull it out. It was a simple game. What could possibly wrong?

“One. Two. Three!”

We dunked our heads into the water, fishing for the red fruit. The first to pull out was Apple Bloom, followed by Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. I had a little more trouble with mine. I bit down on the apple and tried pulling, but it wouldn’t budge any further. Even using my hooves to push against the basin, I still couldn’t get it out. I wasn’t planning on giving up. There was no way I was going to let this apple win.

I thrashed and splashed in the water. While this was going on, everyone else watched me.

“Why’s he havin’ so much trouble?” asked Apple Bloom.

Pinkie giggled. “He must have found one of the surprises I put in there.”

“Surprises?” asked Scootaloo.

“Yep! It makes the game more fun!”

They stared at me as I kept tugging on the apple, my upper half now in the water. “He’s taking an awful long time,” said Sweetie Belle.

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. “I thought he would have given up by now.”

I started feeling lightheaded. I was running out of oxygen. I could feel the air in my lungs trying to escape. However, I could also feel the apple giving away. With a final tug, I fell backwards as the apple finally came loose. I sucked in air greedily, glad to finally breathe again.

In my field of vision, I can see Pinkie's face in front of me. "Wow, I can't believe you did it! It's not an apple, but you still did great!"

I turned my head toward the apple I had been pulling, except it wasn’t an apple. It was a tennis ball... attached to a coiled spring. I had nearly drowned myself… for a tennis ball. Are you serious? After all that and it wasn't even an apple!

I brushed a wet strand of hair out of my face before turning to Pinkie. "Make those coils longer."

~~~~~~~

As the night grew late, the party lost most of its vitality. Almost everyone was exhausted from partying. I had spent the rest of the party not playing Pinkie's games; it was best for my health. The fillies were falling asleep, their eyelids drooping with tiredness. All the other ponies, with the exception of me, Lyra, and Bon Bon, left the party after cleaning up.

With everything cleaned up, we retired for the night, exhausted and ready to sleep. After I had brushed my teeth, Lyra showed me to a room across the bathroom. The room was the same size as Lyra's room. The walls were painted blue, and a single window stood out on one side of the walls. There was a small bed in the room, and other than that, the room was mostly bare except for a few boxes containing what appeared to be photo albums and other junk. Off to one side of the room was a small closet filled with more boxes which I assumed once cluttered the former storage room.

"How do you like your room, Lyle? It's not much but it's the best Bon Bon and I could do."

I walked into the room, absorbing every detail. "I love it. It's more than I would've asked for. I could've just, you know, sleep on the couch."

"Don't be silly, Lyle. It wasn't any trouble at all. Besides, if you're going to be staying with us for the time being, I can't let you sleep on the couch while you're our guest."

I now had a place to stay, and I didn't even have to pay rent. Here comes the guilt. "Lyra, if there's anything you ever need help with, let me know. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me," I said with sincerity.

She smiled as she mussed my mane. "Aww, you're quite the gentlecolt. Thank you Lyle." She then went to her room to sleep after saying a quick "Good night" while I was left in my new room. So many things had happened in just two days, but I knew that tomorrow was going to be even better. It's about time the ponies got to know a pony named Slender. I dropped my saddlebag onto the ground, turned off the lights, and made my way into bed. My eyes grew heavier until I could no longer keep them open before drifting off to sleep, as I dreamed about the exciting things tomorrow would bring.

The Princess and the Foal

Morning light stirred me from from sleep. I sat up, letting out a yawn and a smack of my lips. Realizing what day it was, I couldn’t help but smile. On most mornings, I'm usually reluctant to get out of the comfort of my bed, but today was special. I had a lot on my plate today, and if this was going to be my first Nightmare Night, I wanted it to be the best.

I flung the covers off me and leapt out of bed. As I was about to leave the room, I stopped in my tracks. I turned towards my bed, revealing a mess of my recent awakening, the covers hanging off the bed and onto the floor.

There’s no need to be a slob while I'm a house guest. They are kind enough to let me stay here after all, I reminded myself. Once the bed was neatly tidied, I headed out to do my morning routine and get some breakfast.

A heavenly smell assaulted my nose as I walked into the kitchen. Lyra was making some eggs and toast. She levitated two plates to the table, each carrying an omelet, as well as two glasses of orange juice. I hopped onto one of the chairs, my mouth watering at the spread in front of me. "Wow, Lyra! This looks great!"

She gave a quick "Thank you" at my compliment and began to dig in. I followed her example and started on my own omelet. As we ate, Lyra and I struck up a conversation. "So Lyle, have anything planned for today?"

Using my hooves to hold utensils this time, I cut my food into smaller pieces before eating it. "Yep, I’ve got a lot planned for today," I said between bites. "I need to go pick up my costume from Rarity later, and then I'm going to read a few books. What about you and Bon Bon?"

"Well, Bon Bon is pretty busy at the moment making tons of candy for Nightmare Night. I'm going to be helping out with decorating Ponyville for the celebration."

"Cool."

I shoveled the rest of my food into my mouth and washed it down with orange juice. I may not have good table manners, but when I'm hungry, I eat like no tomorrow. With my breakfast finished, I hopped onto a stool by the kitchen sink and washed my plate. I found it a lot easier to hold things if I didn't think about it.

When I looked at the clock, it was still rather early. Rarity wouldn't be finished with my costume until hours from now, so I made the best use of my time and went up to my room to learn magic. I took out the first book from my saddlebag and dove into my study. Two minutes in and I was already engrossed in my reading. Levitation, transmogrification, and even growing moustaches – the spells I read about ranged from simple to complex, some of them being ridiculous. I was like a little kid reading a comic book, only replace the comic book with a textbook of sorts on magic.

When I felt I had read enough of the basics, I chose to learn levitation first. I wanted to have something equivalent to the feeling of having hands once again. How hard can this be?

I started with something easy – a pencil. I stared at it, trying to feel something. The books didn't go into much detail about what magic was supposed to feel like. Five minutes of staring intensely at the pencil in front of me produced zero results; the damn thing didn't even budge! I moved my face closer. Come on! Move, dammit! Closing the distance had no effect on it. It sat in front of me, almost mockingly.

I tried all sorts of things to lift the pencil with magic -- meditating, random chanting, and at one point, complimenting it. Hey, it didn't hurt to try. Even after making myself look like an idiot, I still couldn't make levitate the stupid pencil. I let out an angry snort, which was much stranger now that I was an equine. I just want something equivalent to having hands. Is that too much to ask for?

My frustration at my unsuccessful attempts came out as a heavy sigh. I read the books, and they made sense to an extent. It would have helped if I knew what I was supposed to feel when using magic. But no, I was born as a normal human with no unicorn magic. I looked at the pencil once more; it hadn't moved anywhere since I took it out. If I was human again, I could easily pick it up. I imagined myself holding it, as if I had hands again, but a tugging sensation on my horn broke my thoughts.

I reached up at my horn, but nothing was out of the ordinary, or at least what was considered "ordinary" in this world. What the hell was that? I looked at the pencil again. I wonder...

I imagined a hand holding a pencil again. The tugging feeling returned, and the pencil was encased in a shimmering yellow glow. Holy shit! I'm doing it! Now to gently lift it...

The moment I thought about lifting the pencil, it shot up faster than I anticipated, impaling itself into the ceiling. I stared at the ceiling with the pencil lodged in it. I’m going to have to fix that later, but at least I can finally start somewhere with magic.

I got out another pencil and tried to do the same thing again, remembering the feeling in my horn from before. Unlike the first time, I decided to take things slowly. The pencil was wrapped in golden glow and wobbled a bit before leaving the ground. It hovered an inch above the ground shakily. My focus was all on the pencil in front of me, trying to keep it afloat. But when I tried to move it to the side, it flew out the open window, followed by a yelp.

I hastily ran to the window and dared a peek outside. I let out a sigh of relief, glad to see that the mare, who I almost impaled, was unharmed. I couldn’t say much about the banner she was holding though. There was a hole on Nightmare Moon’s face on the banner, and I found the pencil stuck into a tree. I closed the window and innocently whistled as I backed away from it like it never happened.

The next few tries ended just as well as the first, though on the bright side I was improving. At one point, I tried to lift a bunch of pencils, only to nearly kill myself when they all came towards my location with the sharp end pointed towards me. Luckily, they all missed me, creating a nearly perfect outline of my body in the wall. I added plaster and maybe a Wonderbolts poster to the list of things I needed to buy to cover up the damage. I had no idea why I used sharpened pencils.

Once I was satisfied that I wasn’t going to kill someone with my levitation spell, I tried to lift myself up like how I saw Pumpkin Cake fly in the show. Thankfully, I didn’t send myself into the ceiling. I had to give Pumpkin Cake a lot of credit. It was really difficult to lift myself one inch off the ground. I guess that was a good thing. There was less of a chance of hurting myself or anyone. Though, the fact that a baby unicorn was able to pull it off made me feel a little jealous.

After a while, I began to feel weary from practicing magic, so I decided to take a small break and look out the window to see what the town was up to. Ponies all around were decorating the buildings with ornaments that matched the Nightmare Moon theme. Some of the colts and fillies were already showing off their costumes and running around excitedly. It was like Halloween back at home – the costumes, the candy, and the decorations. The only thing missing was the tricks. Seeing how the sun wasn't at its highest peak yet, I started my next magic lesson: illusions.

From the first few pages, I could tell it was going to be a long morning. The illusion spells were far more complex than the levitation spells I had learned earlier, though I think I got the gist of it. It was like... like making a costume. I change how I look on the outside, but I would still be the same human-turned-colt on the inside. However, with my small body, casting an illusion spell to make me look like pony version of Slenderman was difficult. I had to change everything with my appearance. I couldn’t keep my concentration constantly focused on how I looked. It was just taxing on my mind.

Instead, I opted for a simpler solution. I read somewhere in one of the books that enchanting an item was a lot easier than casting the spell every time, since the enchanted item would do most of the work. I couldn’t work on the illusion until I got the costume from Rarity, so I moved on to teleportation, and wow, was it difficult. I had to read up on the theories behind the teleportation spell and object displacement. Most of what I read went against everything I knew about physics, but then again, it was magic.

After checking the book once more, I set it down and got ready for the spell. Okay, I just have to remember that feeling again. I felt the familiar tingling of magic building up and intensifying in my horn before I let it out in a flash of light. There was a pulling sensation and then nothing, and by nothing, I meant I couldn’t feel the floor under me. In fact, once I took notice of where I was, I found myself in the air just outside my window with nothing to hold me up. By the time I noticed, it was too late. Gravity took over, and soon my face became acquainted with the ground.

Hello, ground. Something tells me you and I are going to get to know each other really well in the next few hours.

My next attempts at teleporting resulted in painful landings and a few apologies here and there to some ponies. No surprise there. In the span of a few hours, I managed to teleport myself onto someone’s rose garden, the roof, and much to my embarrassment, someone’s bathroom while a mare was taking a bath. In my defense, ponies were naked most of the time, so I didn’t see why it would be any different. But still, I got called a pervert and chased out of the house as I spewed apologies and dodged various household objects. But after the twentieth or so time and some newly acquired sores, I think I got it down so that I could teleport within a general area.

Checking the time, it was now midafternoon, showing that quite some time had passed while I was learning magic. I figured that now was probably a good time to pick up my costume from Rarity and headed out the door towards her shop. The time of the event was nearing as more ponies got stands and games ready. Foals were already in costume, talking about exciting plans for the night and all the sweet treats that were to come. I hastened my pace. I couldn’t wait for my first Nightmare Night in Equestria.

When I got to the boutique, I saw it was decorated like the rest of Ponyville with the dark color scheme of Nightmare Night. The pony mannequins displayed in the window were also dressed up for the event. I walked into the boutique, ringing the bell on top of the door and signaling my arrival. Rarity came downstairs saying in a singsong voice, "Coming!" She was dressed like a vampire pony with false fangs and a dark cloak. The look really suited her. She smiled when she saw me.

"Oh Lyle, you’ve arrived just in time! I just finished making your costume."

She levitated a bag of clothes towards me which I took with my hooves. Inside, everything was accounted for: the white mask, the black suit, and the red tie. A grin crept its way onto my face. I now had everything I needed for my plan. "Thanks Rarity! I'll be sure to show you how I look in it tonight. I think you did a really great job with the costume."

She just gave a chuckle at my compliments. "Oh Lyle, you really do know how to flatter a mare. You’ll make quite the gentlecolt someday."

With everything I needed acquired, I could now put my plan into motion. "Sorry to cut out meeting short Rarity, but I got a lot to do before Nightmare Night. Bye!"

I ran out the door with the bag in my mouth, eager to get started on enchanting my costume. However, in all my excitement, I accidentally collided with a familiar light yellow pegasus. She was a little dazed after I crashed into her, but her face immediately changed into fear when she saw me and gave a quiet "Eep!" She hid behind her long pink mane, trying to make herself as small as possible.

These ponies are just way too cute, I thought. I realized I made her drop all the animal feed she was carrying when I bumped into her. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. I wasn't really watching where I was going," I apologized.

Fluttershy was still trying to avoid eye contact while shuffling her hooves as she gave an inaudible squeak. I had to make it up to her, and what better way to get her to come out of her shell than by helping her? "Are these your bags? Let me help you with those. It's the least I can do."

The bags of feed were encased in a golden glow. As I focused on the bags, they began to inch their way of the ground. This would be great practice before I got ready for tonight. I was glad I got some practice from before; otherwise, the bags of feed I was carrying might have rocketed to the moon.

Fluttershy looked up from the ground with a surprise look on her face, though she still retained her shy approach. "O-oh, you don't have to do that, Lyle. It's fine. I can carry these by myself," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but I can't take no for an answer. It was my fault for bumping into you, and besides, I can't just let a pretty mare like you carry these heavy bags by yourself."

There was a hint of red on her cheeks, probably because of my comment. Then again, I wasn't a full grown stallion, so her blush wasn't that deep. "T-thank you, Lyle."

"No problem. Just tell me where you want these dropped off."

She led the way to her cottage as I levitated my bag and her bags of animal feed. It was quite a long walk since her cottage was at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Why a shy mare like her was living near such a dangerous place, I would never know. We reached the cottage, and I was starting to feel light headed from using magic the entire time we walked.

Animals of all kinds were everywhere around her cottage. Some of these animals were really random considering the type of environment they usually live in. I saw a seal and an otter in the yard around her house. I can understand the small woodland creatures, but where the did these other animals come from? Seriously, I haven't seen any large body of water, and that stream near Fluttershy's cottage seems pretty shallow.

We reached her door with her bags in tow. "You can set those down anywhere, and thank you for doing this." She wasn't talking in a whisper anymore, but it wasn't that much louder. At least it was a step up in our friendship. It was a baby step, but a step nonetheless.

"No problem, Fluttershy." I dropped the bag by the animals’ food bowls. I checked the clock in her house, reminding me that I still had some work to do. “It was nice bumping into you, but I gotta get going. Happy Nightmare Night!” I saw her wince for a brief moment at the mention of Nightmare Night. Hope she gets over her fear soon. She’s going to miss tonight’s fun.

I hurried back to Lyra's house. Though this time, I didn't carry my bag with magic and instead held it in my mouth. Nightmare Night would begin in a few hours. Lyra and Bon Bon weren't home yet, so I went upstairs to try on my new costume.

After I slipping into my Slendermane costume, I took a look at myself in the bathroom. In the mirror, I saw a small colt. His head was white with no facial features and a horn jutting out from his head. I was glad that Rarity accounted for the horn on my head. It would have probably ripped a hole in the costume. The mask was perfect; it hid my features and was easy to see and breathe through. Although the face in front of me was void of emotions, I knew I was smiling underneath. The black suit was very well made with the sleeves stopping at the fetlocks of my front hooves and the coattails hanging over my rear. The red tie completed the suit as it stood out from the monotonous colors of my costume.

There was just one thing left to do to complete the transformation. I went back into my room, took the mask off, and laid it on my bed. I spent the next hour or two rereading one of the books again on magical illusions and enchantments. Although I would be able to activate the illusion with the mask on, the illusion spell cast on the object would only last depending on the unicorn's magical strength. I tried visualizing a pony version of Slenderman. A gold stream flowed from my horn onto the mask. The glow around the mask shimmered and shook like water.

Taking the manifestation of magic in its raw form and putting it into an object was difficult. The closest thing I could use to explain what magic felt like was trying to carry a gallon of water in my bare hands, if I still had them anyway. It was intangible, according to the book, with no definite shape. As I tried to enchant the mask, magic would spill out, causing me to redo the process all over again. It was a tedious process. So after multiple tries weaving an enchantment and illusion spell on the white mask, I was left exhausted and drained of magic, but I think the spell was set. With the amount of work I put into learning magic, it had better been worth it. The mask looked the same as it was before, except it had a spell attached to it. Being a novice at using magic, I knew that the illusion spell would wear off after an hour or so. With the spell’s short duration, I decided I would hold off on wearing the mask until the event started, since the spell only activated when the object was worn.

I took off my costume and set it aside until the night came. Until then, I took a nap on my bed after a tiring day.

~~~~~~~

I woke up groggily, and judging by how dark the room was, it was about time I got ready for Nightmare Night. I put on the black suit and red tie and pulled the plain white mask over my face. The effect of the illusion spell was immediate. There was a tingling sensation all over me. My legs turned pale white as they elongated. My tail vanished as it faded into nothingness. My small body became larger and slimmer. The illusion spell also affected my clothes as they grew along with my body. The horn that was once on top of my head also vanished, leaving my head bare. In a few seconds, the spell was complete. I was probably as tall as Celestia herself now. Black tentacles, misty in appearance, sprouted from my back. The tentacles moved on their own, lazily waving about. I made it so that I could control a few of the tentacles with my mind, but they couldn't really grab anything, which was why I learned the levitation spell. Glancing back at my flank, I saw a cutie mark of a drawn circle crossed out.

This is gonna be the best Nightmare Night ever, I thought to myself. I levitated my saddlebag onto my back. Although it was a little small, I was able to still carry it without feeling any discomfort. I stuffed some pieces of paper, a roll of tape, and a pencil into the saddlebag.

I could hear Bon Bon downstairs handing out candy to the little colts and fillies. I didn't want to spoil the surprise just yet, so I decided to try my hoof at teleporting again. While teleportation normally enveloped the user in a bright light, my illusion spell made it so that I was swallowed by the darkness of my shadow. I had some fun playing around with the spell. It was pretty sweet if you ask me. I then reappeared behind a tree in some bushes, rematerializing from a dark abyss.

Now I just need to make it to the Nightmare Moon's statue without being seen, and I could put my plan into action. Making multiple teleportations behind trees and bushes, I was able to make it to the edge of the forest without being seen. After a bit of walking, I made it to the statue of Nightmare Moon. No one was around, making it perfect to set my plan into motion. I took out some paper and hastily wrote messages on them.

I stuck a piece of paper on the statue of Nightmare Moon and the other pieces of paper on the trees following the path back to town. I hid behind some trees some distance away from the statue but close enough to see what was going on. And now I wait...

I didn't have to wait long. A group of small colts and fillies had just arrived, led by the rhyming zebra. I also noticed some of the ponies within the group. Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie were there. Twilight was dressed as Star Swirl the Bearded and Spike was, ironically, dressed as a dragon. Pinkie was dressed as a giant chicken. Huh, so either ponies aren’t original in costume ideas or I'm in the episode with Princess Luna. While Zecora was telling the story about Nightmare Moon and the ponies were screaming around, Pipsqueak smacked into the statue where my note was.

He picked up the note that fell on his face. "Did anypony leave this note behind?" Most of the ponies have stopped screaming by now to hear what Pipsqueak had to say. They all shook their heads. "It says ‘Don’t look or he takes you…’ What do you think it means?"

The group of ponies had confused looks on their faces. Twilight had gotten a hold of the note and was scrutinizing it. "I'm not sure who wrote this, but it must just be a prank by somepony to scare us." Just as she said this, one of the fillies screamed out loud.

Everyone turned towards the startled filly. "What's wrong?" asked Twilight.

The filly dressed as a ladybug was pointing towards a thick section of the forest. "I t-thought I s-saw something over there."

The next pony to scream was Scootaloo, who was dressed as a werewolf. "Twilight, I think I saw somepony over there!" She pointed towards another side of the clearing. There was nothing there, of course, since I had teleported.

I was having a little too much fun scaring the daylights out of the ponies. While everyone was focused on the spot I was previously at before teleporting, I teleported behind one of fillies, left behind another note, and teleported into another spot in the forest.

When the filly dressed as an astronaut noticed the note, she hesitantly picked it up and read it out loud. "’Always watches no eyes’? Hey this looks like a picture of a pony's head." The picture revealed a drawing of a pony's head. However, it was lacking eyes and void of any emotions.

This time I ran around the clearing before teleporting to the other side. The movements in the bushes made them stick closer together. "I say we drop our candy for Nightmare Moon and get out of her as soon as possible. What do you say?" Pinkie asked. Everyone agreed, anxious to leave already. So as they hastily made their way out of the forest, I made sure to leave some more notes on the floor in the path in front of them.

Twilight picked up each note as they passed by them. One read "CAN'T RUN" and another read "FOLLOWS" with a picture of tall, faceless pony dressed in black.

Before they could exit the forest, I decided to make my appearance. I teleported in front of the path with all the cool special effects. I towered all the colts, fillies, mares, and the baby dragon. Their faces were shocked with fear, their screams caught in their throats. I made my way to Twilight, who was gaping at me, and using one of my tentacle and my levitation spell, I lifted her head to face mine. "Happy Nightmare Night... Twilight Sparkle." I let out a maniacal laughter and faded into the darkness that came with my teleportation. I was a little out of character, but the reaction I got out of it was totally worth it.

Everypony in the group shrieked and galloped towards town as if they were chased by demons. I, on the other hoof, was laughing behind some trees back in the forest. "Oh god! That was hilarious! Oh, that was just too funny. I should probably check back on them later and clear the whole thing up.” I wasn’t completely heartless. In my fit of laughter, I didn't notice the patch of blue flowers underneath my hooves.

As I looked back at the sky, I saw a dark chariot fly overhead towards Ponyville with lightning flashing in the sky. So, the Princess of the Night arrives. I guess I'm in that episode after all. It was at the statue of Nightmare Moon that I noticed a dark blue alicorn, sitting glumly with a piece of candy in front of her and her back facing toward me. I went up to comfort her. I didn't want to stick with the Slendermane approach since this princess could probably pulverize me to smithereens. Instead, I took slow steps, making sure not to make any sudden movements.

As I closed the distance, one of her ears swiveled in my direction. I froze in my tracks. She turned her head towards me, her eyes widening as soon as they fell on me before narrowing. "WHO ART THOU? AND WHY HAVE THOU COME TO US?" she shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice. My ears flattened at the deafening volume. Oh noble Dragonborn. Teach me the shouts of your dragon language.

I straightened my tie after being subjected to the force of the shout. I figured now was okay to break out of character. "You look a little sad, Princess. What’s wrong?" I said in a calm and deeper voice, doing my best to mask my young voice. I’d rather have a calm princess than an angry one.

"THOU ART NOT SCARED OF US? THE OTHER PONIES HAVE SHOWN NOTHING BUT FEAR TOWARDS US!" Again with the shouting.

"No, I'm not scared. Why should I? You seem nice. But, I must ask that you talk in a quieter volume.” My ears couldn’t take much more of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"We apologize, strange one,” she said at a more tolerable volume, “but we have to ask, who art thou?"

"I want to keep my identity secret for tonight, but you may call me Slendermane."

"Slendermane... that is an unusual name, no offense. How does thou have tentacles if thou art an earth pony?" Driven by curiosity, she tried to poke one of the tentacles, only to have her hoof go through it like smoke. “An illusion?”

"It’s just a little something I put together,” I said. “But back to you, Princess, why are you here all alone?"

She looked down and sighed. "The other ponies fear us, keeping us from making peace, though it’s understandable. We really were once a mean and despicable creature. It's really difficult… to make new friends."

A sad princess? Well, looks like I’m going to have to change that. "Difficult? Ha ha. Why look here, making new friends is as easy as taking your first step."

“Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking cross the floor .
Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking out the door.”

I was really getting into the song as I sung. I pranced around the clearing, trying to cheer Princess Luna up. It sure must have looked weird to see Slendermane dancing around and singing. All the while I was dancing, Princess Luna gave me a puzzled expression at my actions as she watched me with a tilted head.

“Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking cross the floor.
Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking out the door.

If you want to change your direction,
If your time of life is in reach,
Well don't be the rule be the exception.
A good way to start is your speech.

Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking cross the floor.
Put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking out the door.”

Luna finally got into the song and was singing along with me.

“If we want to change the reflection
We see in the mirror each morn,
Thou mean that it's just our election
To vote for a chance to be reborn.”

At this point, Luna was dancing with me as we sung along to the song.

“You put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you are walking cross the floor.
You put one hoof in front of the other
And soon you are walking out the door!”

Our song came to an end, and we started laughing together as if we had been good friends for a long time. Luna wrapped her hooves around me in a hug, and I was once again blushing under my mask. It was a good thing my mask hid my crimson face from the Princess. When she broke the hug, she was smiling at me. “Thou have been so kind us. We would like to get to know the stallion under the mask better,” she said with a mischievous smile.

I gulped under my mask. Remember Lyle. They’re ponies. Even if this is immortal alicorn. You know in this moonlight, she looks kind of— No! Stop it! As I was fighting with myself, the blue alicorn got closer to me and brought her hooves around my neck where my mask ended. I tried to get away but her magic held me in place. I thought my secret was going to be blown, but a confused look crept onto her face. Her hooves kept fiddling with my mask, but it didn’t come off.

“Why can’t we take off thy mask? Is it stuck onto thy head? Do you not wish for anypony to see thy face?”

Now it was my turn to be confused. I didn’t make it so that my mask couldn’t come off. I reached my hooves around my mask and gave it a little tug, but it didn’t budge from my head, as if there was super glue attaching the mask to my face. I started to freak out a little.

“Why won’t my mask come off?!” I shouted as I pulled at the fabric. I clawed the fabric, trying to tear it off, but it was useless. It was fixed onto my head. Come off, dammit!

“Art thou well?” asked Princess Luna.

I stopped pulling my mask, realizing how useless it was. I had to find help. “Sorry, Princess, but I gotta go. Maybe we’ll meet each other next time you come to visit Ponyville.” I teleported out of the forest like a shadow fading out, startling the alicorn princess. The last look I saw on Princess Luna’s face was of disappointment as I left. I would have stayed and comforted her when she was lonely, but having a mask stuck onto my face for reasons unknown took some priority.

I made my way back to Ponyville, causing many ponies to flee in terror at my appearance. I guess word got out quicker than I thought. Ponies were panicking at the sight of me. Little colts and fillies were screaming. The older ponies were wrecking everything as they tried to get away from me. I know I look scary, but isn’t this a bit of an overreaction?

I noticed Applejack in a scarecrow costume and went up to her, hoping she would help me. However, as I got closer, she backed further away from me, fear stricken on her face. Before I could say anything, a bolt of magic whizzed by my face. Turning around, I saw Twilight staring angrily at me. This is not good. She fired off some more magic shots at me, which I luckily dodged. I guess dodging pencils finally paid off.

Twilight glared daggers at me as she aimed her horn. “Don’t you dare hurt my friends!” she yelled.

I tried to resolve this situation quickly. “Twilight, it’s me, Ly—“ One of the shots hit me, momentarily dazing me. But that was enough time for the cowpony to buck me in the head like a sledgehammer. Before I blacked out, one thought came to my mind. Shit…

~~~~~~~

When I came to, I was tied up in Twilight’s library. Ropes bounded my legs, keeping me from moving. Before I could get up, a voice spoke up in a threatening tone.

“Don’t move.”

I turned towards the source of the voice and found the mares in front of me, who I recognized were Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight. None of them looked too happy, well except Pinkie. She seemed chipper, as usual, and knowing her, she probably wanted to throw a party for me.

“Who are you? No, what are you?” Twilight asked in a tone not at all friendly.

I can still fix this, I just gotta explain. “It’s me, Lyle.” They didn’t look too convinced.

“Lyle? He’s a lil’ colt, not whatever you are!” replied Applejack.

“I’m not lying! It’s really me, Lyle!” I pleaded, wiggling in my binding.

“Don’t be silly! Of course, you’re not Lyle. Lyle is an itty bitty colt, and you’re a super tall, spooky, faceless pony thing,” said Pinkie, smiling.

“Aw, come on! It was just a prank. I didn’t actually hurt anypony.”

“We still can’t really trust you after what you did,” Twilight said while pointing at me.

These mares were having a hard time believing me. Dammit, I shouldn’t have gone too far with that prank. They’ll probably have me locked up or something for being the terror of Ponyville. I can see the headlines: ‘Slendermane finally caught! Sentenced to life in prison.’ Yeah, that’ll be great...

As I was losing hope in the mares who saw me as a monster, which technically I was since I was dressed as Slendermane, a certain blue alicorn appeared at the door of the library.

“Princess Luna!” all three mares shouted. I could only stare at my one hope of clearing everything up.

When she saw me tied up on the floor, she frowned. “RELEASE HIM!” The Royal Canterlot Voice shook Twilight’s tree, causing all of us , except me, to cover our ears.

The ropes around my legs loosened, and I was finally able to stand up. The three mares backed up away from me, a little nervous at what I would do.

Princess Luna walked up to me before turning to everyone in the room. “He is no threat. He is actually a nice pony with a kind heart. Although he would not say who he really is, he calls himself, Slendermane.” Everyone relaxed a little at hearing their Princess assure them that I wasn’t going to hurt them, but that didn’t stop them from being a little pissed at me.

“Listen to her. It’s really me, Lyle! I used some magic to make myself look like this and to pull off that prank, except now I can’t take off my mask!”

Twilight trotted up to me and began poking and prodding me as she scrutinized my costume. “Lyle, how do you even know how to do this kind of magic? Illusions and teleportation are really advanced and complex spells.”

“I read the books I checked out, Twilight. All it took was a lot of practice and figuring out how it works. But back to more important matters at hoof, I can’t take off the mask I enchanted!”

She put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, did anything happen since the time you wore your mask?”

Let’s see... I put the mask on and then scared everyone. What else happened? I met Princess Luna then created panic in Ponyville. But what could have caused this? Ugh, I guess this is what I deserve for pranking everyone. It almost feels like a bad... joke. Oh...

My face met my hoof as the realization sunk in. “Hey Twilight... Know where I can get a cure for poison joke?”

From there, she knew what to do. Twilight explained that I could be cured by getting a bath with some herbs from Zecora. Applejack went to Mayor Mare to tell her about the situation. Pinkie began eating all her candy and being… well, Pinkie. The town settled down soon after. Twilight came back with Zecora and a bag of herbs. I soaked in Twilight’s bathtub filled with warm water and herbs with my clothes still on, although I think Rarity wouldn’t mind with the situation I had to go through. Thankfully, I was able to slide the mask off my face, bringing my illusion to an end.

Upon seeing my face, Princess Luna gasped. “Thou art a colt?! We thought thou were a stallion!”

I awkwardly scratched my head. “Heh, funny story… Would you believe that I’m really an adult?” Luna didn’t look like she was going to believe me anytime soon. But before she headed out the door, I had to say one last thing. “Princess Luna, it was really nice meeting you. I really think you can make friends if you just try, and if you’ll let me, can I be your friend?”

She smiled warmly. “Thou art already a dear friend, young Lyle. Our time here was rather enjoyable.”

“You know, the night is still young. Maybe you should try making new friends now?”

“We would be glad to.”

~~~~~~~

The rest of Nightmare Night continued, ponies taking part in the festivities of the night again. They no longer feared Princess Luna as Nightmare Moon after seeing Slendermane for the first time. They even took a liking to her now that she was trying to be friendly. Though, the little colts and fillies still asked Luna to scare them as Nightmare Moon for the enjoyment of being scared. After I apologized for the umpteenth time to the girls, they eventually forgave me and all was right again, sort of. I was a little sore that my costume was ruined, and I didn’t get a single piece of candy, but I guess I deserved that too.

I went back to Lyra’s house with my soaked costume in my saddlebag. When I got inside, I noticed that Lyra dressed as a mummy and talking to Bon Bon about her night while eating candy.

“Hey Lyle, how was your night?” asked Lyra.

“It was… interesting,” I plainly said.

“Oh? Like what?”

I gave a heavy sigh. “I’ll tell you later, maybe. I’m pretty tired.”

“Well, okay. Goodnight, Lyle.”

I went up to my room. I tossed my saddlebag on the ground and crawled into bed. With every that happened today, it was no surprise I would be tired – learning magic, scaring the living daylights out of every pony, being shot at with magic, and being bucked in the head. Wow, what a day. But hey, at least Princess Luna got a happy ending to this night. I turned off the lights and shut my eyes, giving in to the comfort of sleep.

The Bees

I woke up to the throbbing pain in my head. Being bucked in the head by an apple farmer like Applejack does that to you. I probably lost a few brain cells from that kick. Looking at the window, I saw that the sun was high up, meaning I woke up pretty late in the day. I sat up on my bed, gingerly touching the back of my head where I had been kicked. I winced at the sharp pain as my hoof made contact. There was a small bump on my head but nothing an ice pack couldn’t fix.

I kicked off the covers and lazily made my way to the door. I passed by my saddlebag still filled with all my stuff from last night, including my soaked costume. Ick, I should probably get that washed soon, but not now. I trotted downstairs, hoping to find an ice pack and maybe some pain relievers, if ponies had any.

When I walked into the kitchen, neither Lyra nor Bon Bon was around, leaving me alone in the house. I noticed a note on the fridge.

Lyle,
Went to the park to earn some bits. Bon Bon left to work at her store. In the meantime, stay OUT of trouble. If you decide to go out, be sure to be back before dark.
Lyra

After I had finished reading the note, I planned out today's agenda. So I have the whole day to myself. I still have to find a way to pay back Lyra. But how? I thought about how I would go spending my day as I grabbed myself an apple from the fridge to eat. I found an ice pack and filled it with ice from the freezer and held the pack to the tender bump on my head. I didn’t find out where the medicine was kept, but after holding the ice pack on the tender spot for a while, the pain had dulled considerably. Once the pain had been treated, I emptied the ice pack and put it away. I decided I would look around town to kill some time, and with that I headed out the door.

The decorations from Nightmare Night were taken down, and ponies around were minding their own business. There were ponies pulling carts. Some stopped to chat, while others trotted toward their destination. Things were pretty normal around here, for a world inhabited by ponies that is.

I wandered around town hall and around the market. There were stands setup selling fruits and vegetables of all kinds. I saw a mare and a stallion yelling and arguing as they haggled over the price of cherries. The mare was winning. Looking around, I saw a store that sold quills and sofas. I thought it was pretty random for a store to sell the two things of no relevance to each other, but hey, what did I know about ponies or business?

Next to a store selling gems and jewelry, I found Bon Bon's candy store. How did I know it was Bon Bon’s? The three pieces of candy on the store’s sign, similar to Bon Bon’s cutie mark, might have had something to do with it. I stopped by the candy store and said hello to Bon Bon, who was behind a counter. "Hiya Bon Bon. Is this your candy store?" I asked.

"Sure is!" she replied, grinning. There was an assortment of candy in the store. There was candy corn, chocolate, bonbons (why am I not surprised?), and other types of candy. While I was perusing the sugary goods, reminding me that I never got a single piece of candy during Nightmare Night after the ‘incident’, Bon Bon noticed me practically drooling at the sight of the treats.

She chuckled at this. "Lyle, would you like some samples? I made these myself."

I broke my gaze from the sweets to look at her. "Of course I would like some! You made all these?"

"Yep! Let me just get you a bag." She grabbed a white paper bag and began pouring a variety of candy inside it. She gave me the bag, which I gladly took with my mouth; having spent yesterday constantly using magic to do all kinds of crazy things, I held off using any magic spell until I recovered from it.

"Tanksh, Ron Ron ," I said with the bag in my mouth. She gave a wave as I left the store.

I walked toward a park bench with my bag full of goodies and sat down, savoring each piece of candy as I popped them into my mouth with relish. The sweetness of the bonbons overwhelmed my taste buds – the sweet, creamy chocolate melting in my mouth. I let myself drown in the sea of chocolaty goodness and delight. As I sat there eating my treat, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander, always drifting toward the subject of home.

Home. I wonder what's happening back at home. I thought about being human again and watching My Little Pony. Out of curiosity, I did what Lyra did in the show and sat like I did when I was human. It was uncomfortable since my equine body was not used to such a position. It felt strange that the way I had been sitting for most of my life was now unsuitable to my new body. How can Lyra sit like this? My back is killing me!

Most of the ponies who walked by didn't even notice the green unicorn colt sitting like a human, but some of them did a double take when they walked pass me. I got looks of surprise from some of them, probably because they thought I was Lyra or something since she was the only pony who ever sat like this, at least according to my knowledge of the show. When watching everyone’s reactions lost its entertainment value, I decided it was time to take another look around Ponyville.

I still needed a way to find bits, and I doubted ponies would hire colts my age. While looking around, I noticed a building with a music note on the sign of the store. I was practically ecstatic at seeing the music store. Music was a hobby and passion of mine. I mainly played guitar back at home, but I also learned to play all sorts of instruments in my younger years.

I cantered into the store where I saw different instruments on display. Acoustic guitars hung on one side of the room. Violins, violas, and cellos lined another side of the room. There were drums of different sizes in the center of the store. In the back of the room, I saw a dark brown stallion with jet black hair. He seemed about middle aged, and his cutie mark was two sixteenth notes linked together. Behind him were more instruments such as a trumpet, a flute, and a clarinet. I noticed that this store didn't have many electronic instruments.

While looking around, the stallion spoke up. "Need something, kid?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm just looking around. How much does this acoustic guitar cost?" I pointed at one of the guitars hanging.

"That? 150 bits," he said.

Damn. That is a lot, and I don't have a single bit on me. But I really want that guitar. I guess I'll have to earn the bits to payback Lyra AND to pay for a guitar. I turned my attention back to the stallion. "Alright, that’s all I wanted to know, thank you." With that new information in mind, I left the store but not before giving that guitar one more glance.

I had to find some way to earn some bits. It seemed like my problems were becoming more related to money now. I had to think of an idea that'll earn me some cash. Lemonade stand? No, that'll take me forever. Selling cookies? I don't even know how to bake. I could always sell a kidney, but I’m not that desperate yet. God dammit! What the hell can I do to get some bits around here?!

While I was lost in my thoughts, three fillies riding a scooter-pulled wagon skidded to a stop in front of me. "Hiya Lyle! Wanna come with us to our clubhouse? It's at my farm. Now that yer a Cutie Mark Crusader, you gotta see it," said Apple Bloom.

Since I'm not doing anything, I might as well. "Sure, Apple Bloom. So, uh, I just ride in the wagon?"

"Yep! With Scootaloo driving, we'll get there in no time," replied Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo held a prideful grin at the remark.

I hopped into the wagon between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. They didn't have a spare helmet, so out of the four of us, I would be the only one who would most likely get seriously injured in an accident. We sped through Ponyville, nearly colliding with one or two ponies as Scootaloo drove us to Apple Bloom’s farm. The wagon was cramped with my addition to the vehicle. The other two didn't really seem to mind, it was too close for comfort for me. Apple Bloom sat behind me, while Sweetie Belle sat in front. During the ride to Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom clung to me from behind, both hooves wrapped around me. With me being between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, I had to sit in an awkward position where I sat like I would when I was human. Also, sitting on my tail didn’t make it any more comfortable for me. I hope we get there soon. My legs are falling asleep.

Fortunately, we got to Sweet Apple Acres without any accidents. Going deeper into the apple orchards, we finally came upon a clearing with the clubhouse in sight. It looked just like it did in the show. It was a shade of red with windows, a door, and a ramp leading up to it. For a clubhouse, it looked pretty amazing, especially since it was refurbished by a couple of kids.

When we got to the clubhouse, we hopped off the vehicle and went up into the clubhouse. The walls were yellow and decorated with drawings made by the fillies. Pink drapes decorated the windows and a single lantern hung in the center of the room. They also had a table with papers listing ideas for cutie marks; most of them were crossed out. If it weren’t for how girly the whole clubhouse looked, I totally would have wanted this as a kid.

"Ah think we should welcome our very first new member since we formed this club. What do ya'll say?" Apple Bloom spoke up. The other two agreed with a nod and they all clopped their hooves together, welcoming me to the club.

"Well gee, thanks girls. I'm really glad you let me join your club," I said.

"No problem! Hey, maybe now we'll get our cutie marks faster with you around," replied Scootaloo.

"Yeah! Now that there are four of us, we're sure to find our cutie marks faster," added Sweetie Belle.

I didn't know how that was going to make them get their cutie marks faster, but I just nodded anyway.

"Great! Now that that's outta the way, let's come up with some ideas for cutie marks," said Apple Bloom.

Hmm, maybe they can help me out? They could try to find their cutie marks while I finally get my hooves on some bits. Their talents were pretty obvious, but I couldn't tell them. They had to figure it out on their own. But before I could voice out an idea, Apple Bloom spoke up first.

"Ah got it! Cutie Mark Crusaders Bee Exterminators!"

"Bee exterminators?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah! We get rid of the bees that are bothering ponies in Ponyville. We don't have to hurt them. Just move their bee hive somewhere else."

I did not like the sound of the idea, but the others seemed excited about the idea. "YEAH! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BEE EXTERMINATORS!" all three shouted at ear-piercing volumes. Yep, I'm gonna go deaf by the end of the day.

~~~~~~~

We stood in front of a red barn door. We all wore helmets on our heads and had pillows strapped to our bodies. I knew this wasn't going to keep the bees from stringing us, but I hadn't seen any bee hives around Ponyville. I had nothing to worry about, or so I thought.

It turned out our first stop was the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. Apparently, there was a bee hive in there. So how did we remove the bee hive, you ask? With a really long stick.

We entered the barn. A long wooden pole was held in our mouths. From the end of the stick furthest from the bee hive was Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and finally me at the front.

“I’m having second thoughts on this,” I said with the pole in my mouth.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Scootaloo replied. She jerked her head forward, sending the pole lurching toward the hive and giving it a quick jab.

Unfortunately, it took only a bit of poking and prodding for some very unhappy bees to fly out and come at us with a vengeance. “AAH!” we all screamed. We immediately dropped the stick and got the hell out of there as the swarm of bees gave chase. We ran as fast as our little legs could carry us to Apple Bloom's house while screaming at the top of our lungs.

The three fillies ran through the door and shut it behind them, holding the door shut. However, they soon realized that someone was missing, that particular someone being me.

"Hey where's Lyle?" asked Scootaloo. It was then that they heard my furious knocking and screaming at the door.

"AH! OW! APPLE BLOOM! OW! SWEETIE BELLE! OW, FU— SCOOTALOO! OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR!" I shouted. The buzzing swarm stung madly at me, the pillows and helmet doing nothing to protect me from the painful stinging.

From the other side of the door, the girls hesitated opening the door, in fear of letting the bees in and being stung themselves. But after a few moments, the pounding and screaming stopped. Following the silence was a knock. Rat tat-tat tat tap.

The girls slowly opened the door. Standing before them was a unicorn colt covered in red swollen marks. It was obvious that I did not look happy.

Apple Bloom winced when she looked at me. "Oh... you don't look so good.”

"You think?" I replied sarcastically.

"Um... Ah'm gonna go get some ice. You… just rest on the couch."

As I looked around Apple Bloom’s home, I saw a green couch, worn out by time, sitting in the living. Pictures of the Apple family hung on the walls, revealing little Applejack and little Macintosh and baby Apple Bloom. They looked so adorable when they were little. There was an unlit fireplace in the living room. The place had a rustic appeal, giving it a cozy, homely feeling. I took a seat on the couch and took off my gear, while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood next to me, looking sorry for what had happened. The swollen areas even got to the part of my body that was covered with pillows. I guessed some of the bees managed to get under the pillow and sting me there.

When Apple Bloom got back, she was holding an ice pack in her mouth, and Granny Smite followed behind her with some tweezers in her mouth. "Why ain't ya a poor thing," said Granny Smith at the sight of me. "Don't ya worry, sonny. We'll have them stingers out in no time!"

Removing the stingers was pretty annoying. Each pluck of the stinger was accompanied by a small yelp or a grunt of pain from me. But after a few minutes, she was able to get every one of them out. I took the ice pack from Apple Bloom and held it to... well, every part of my body since I was stung all over. I changed the ice pack's location every two or three minutes.

"We're sorry, Lyle. We didn't mean for this ta happen," said Apple Bloom.

"Yeah, we're sorry. We didn't mean for you to get hurt," added Scootaloo.

"If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have gotten stung so much," followed Sweetie Belle.

I just couldn't stay mad at the three fillies before me, with their sad puppy-dog eyes. These fillies just melted my heart. Is there such thing as being too adorable? I smiled to show them that I didn’t hold anything against them, or at least, I think I was smiling. It’s kind of hard to smile when most of your face is swollen. "I forgive all of you. But next time, let's do something doesn’t involve bees, okay?" They all gave a nod and a smile at my response.

Applejack and Big Macintosh came through the door after tending the apple orchard. "Whoa! What in tarnation happened here?" asked Applejack as soon as she saw me.

"Oh me? I was just having the time of my life getting stung by bees and all. You know..." I said sarcastically.

"Heh, well serves ya right for scarin’ all of Ponyville yesterday with that costume."

Scootaloo jerked her head towards me. "That was you?!"

"Yeah… I didn't mean for it to get out of hoof the way it did. Sorry if I scared you, and Applejack, I said I was sorry! Seriously, even Rainbow Dash isn't apologizing for scaring everypony with a lightning cloud."

"Well at least she didn't cause massive panic in Ponyville.”

She had a point. There was a lot of property damage that came with the screaming and fleeing in terror. But it wasn’t my fault that ponies overreacted. On the bright side, every pony's fear turned away from Luna and towards me as Slendermane.

Looking at the clock, I decided I better get going. "It's getting pretty dark. I think I'm gonna head on back to Lyra's house." I got up from the couch and began making my way toward the door.

Scootaloo caught up to me and trotted by my side. "Hey Lyle. Let me give you a ride back. It's the least I could do after today.”

I was still sore all over. One ride back home couldn’t hurt. “Sure.”

We sped toward Lyra's house. After saying goodbye to Scootaloo, I walked inside. Lyra and Bon Bon were making dinner, which was some kind of pasta with hay and herbs. She heard me come through the front door. "Welcome back, Lyle. How was your day?"

"Oh, it was... interesting..."

When Lyra and Bon Bon looked up from the dishes they were preparing, they were surprised by my still slightly swollen appearance. "Lyle, what happened?" asked Bon Bon.

I shrugged. "I got a little acquainted with some bees today."

"Oh no! Are you alright?" asked Lyra as she checked on me.

"Yeah, I'm alright now. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith helped me out."

After reassuring them that I was okay, we finally ate. At dinner, I explained how I ended up being stung by bees and how the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying to get their cutie marks. When dinner was finished, I trotted to my room, still sore all over, and read one of Twilight's books while lying in bed. I have a feeling that I'm going to be best friends with pain by the time I find a way home.

The Art of Failing

The school bell rang. All the colts and fillies filed out of the room, glad that class was finally over. It was the usual routine. I began packing my things when the Crusaders came up to me.

“Hurry up, Lyle! You’re so slow!” Scootaloo remarked. “We’ve got crusading to do!”

"Alright, alright," I said. "Why are we in such a hurry? It's not like we'll get a cutie mark in crusading fast."

"Hey, you'll never know until we try. Now get your flank moving!"

I rolled my eyes. Kids... At least they're ambitious, I'll give them that. I pulled my saddlebag on. As we were about to leave, Cheerilee came up to me.

"Lyle, can you stay behind for a moment?"

I looked up at her with a questioning glance before looking at the girls to see if they knew what she wanted. I hoped their crusading didn't rope me into some sort of trouble. All I got were shrugs from the three of them. What does Cheerilee want with me then?

"Sure...?" I replied, still confused to what was going on.

Cheerilee turned to the Crusaders. "It won't take long, girls. I just need to talk to Lyle about something."

"He ain't in trouble, is he?" asked Apple Bloom.

"No, he isn't. Could you please wait outside for a few minutes?"

The girls nodded and began walking out of the class but not before casting one more glance at me. Now it was just me and Cheerilee. I'm not in trouble? Then why does she want to talk to me? I thought I was going to have a teacher conference for sleeping in class and not paying attention. But apparently, that wasn't the case.

"What do you want to see me for, Miss Cheerilee?" I asked.

As if her actions weren't puzzling enough, she gave me a smile. "Some important ponies are coming to school tomorrow to give you a test.”

Test? "What test?" I was pretty sure I would remember something like that.

"You know, the one to see what you've learned already. We talked about it a couple days ago."

Days ago? I don't remember talking abou— oh... Right… I really should have paid more attention when Cheerilee was talking. Apparently, I was going to get tested. Oh joy...

"Right... but can you run it by me again on what it's about and why I'm taking it?"

"Well, you’re bored in class, aren’t you?” she asked. “You seem to doze off a lot during class. I know you’re a smart young colt, so I suggest that you take the assessment, just to see where you’re at in learning. All you do is answer some questions and talk to some important ponies. It's nothing to worry about. Just try your best to answer."

"Okay, so what happens after that?"

She put a hoof to her chin. “Well, if you do really well, you might go to a special school in Canterlot for smart colts and fillies."

I blinked a couple times as I stared at her incredulously. I must have heard her wrong. "I'm sorry, but did you say Canterlot?"

She nodded. "Yes. The schools in Canterlot are very nice. Some of them teach gifted ponies."

I forced my lips to contort into a smile. "That's... great, I guess.”

"I know, isn't it wonderful?"

Not exactly.

Many things came to mind as I thought about my options, most of them I found unfavorable. If I went to Canterlot, I would be leaving all my friends, even Lyra. I would miss out on all the exciting adventures. I dreaded the upcoming assessment the more I thought about what would happen. Going to some private school in Canterlot was going to put a dent in my plans. Sure, going to a school for gifted ponies was nice and all… but I was already in college, so that didn’t matter to me. Whether it’s going to a public school or a private school, the fact still remained that I was stuck as a foal. At least if I stayed, I would still have my friends. Then, there’s keeping the adult thing low profile…

“I think I’ve kept you here long enough,” she continued. “Be sure to stay after class tomorrow and do your best. Okay, Lyle?”

I began making my way towards the door, casting a downward glance at the floor. “Okay, Miss Cheerilee…”

“Goodbye, Lyle.” She waved goodbye before going back to grading everyone’s papers.

Once I was outside and the door was closed, I let out a heavy sigh. Great, how am I going to get out of this one?

There was a thump, a rustling of leaves, and a voice crying “Ow” in a nearby bush, close to the school’s window. I took a peek over it and found an orange, yellow, and white heap of sprawled limbs. I should have guessed it was Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.

I cleared my throat. “Ahem!”

Immediately, three adorable pairs of eyes were on me. They looked as if they were caught with one hand, or in this case hoof, in the cookie jar. The girls scrambled back on their hooves, trying to look as casual as possible despite being caught snooping around.

“H-hey, Lyle. What’s up?” Scootaloo nonchalantly replied.

Yep, completely suspicious. “What’s up? Why don’t you girls tell me ‘what’s up’? Because eavesdropping by the window while I talked to Miss Cheerilee is totally not suspicious.” They dropped their façade, now wilting under my gaze. I let out a heavy sigh. I wasn’t mad at them. I was just stressed out from what Cheerilee told me. “What are you three still doing here? I thought you’d be crusading by now.”

Apple Bloom stepped in front. “Well, we were… but then, um…”

“Please, don’t go!” Sweetie Belle blurted before having an orange and a yellow hoof placed over her mouth.

I raised a brow. "Go?"

They looked at each other, as if unsure what to say. Apple Bloom was the first to gather enough courage to say the thing on their minds. "We kinda heard ya in there with Miss Cheerilee... We don't want ya ta go to that fancy school in Canterlot."

"Yeah! You're a Cutie Mark Crusader! You're going to miss a lot of crusading when you're in Canterlot," added Scootaloo.

Oh, so that's what they were worried about. By now, their eyes were starting to water. My heart melted in their gaze. I had to cheer them up before I started crying too. "Who said I was going? I'm not going to leave my friends just to go to some private school."

Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes with a hoof. "Y-you're not?"

I gave a warm smile. "Of course I'm not! I’m staying here in Ponyville.”

“But what about the meeting with those important ponies tomorrow?” asked Apple Bloom. “What if they send ya ta Canterlot?”

“I think I can convince them not to,” I said with a smirk.

They all looked at me with a quizzical expression on their faces. “How?”

~~~~~~~

I stayed behind as all the foals left the classroom. The Cutie Mark Crusaders waved goodbye but not before giving a few words of encouragement. As they walked out, four ponies wearing ties and suits came in. The four unicorns from Canterlot looked strangely familiar. I think I remembered seeing them from the episode showing how Twilight got her cutie mark, though they looked older and now had a few more wrinkles since Twilight’s exam.

The blue stallion with the combed, white mane levitated a clipboard in front of his face. “Lyle Hartston?”

“Yes sir?” I replied.

“Please take a seat. We will begin the test,” he said, his voice boring and monotonous, probably from rehearsing the line a thousand times. Would it kill you to smile?

I grabbed a seat at the front of the classroom. A pencil, an answer sheet, and an exam booklet were placed on my desk. The first part of the assessment was math, about fifty questions on logic, arithmetic, and basic operations. The test was going to be a cinch for someone with a college level education, if I had planned on passing that is…

He watched the clock as the second hand ticked away. “You may begin… now.”

I began scribbling furiously on my answer sheet with the pencil in my magical grip; all the while, the stallion oversaw my testing and looked at the clock every few minutes. Oh, I am going to have fun with this, I thought to myself. For each question, I added another bubble to the answer sheet and wrote “42” as the new answer for each letter, and for each question, I didn’t mark just one bubble. Oh no, that would be too easy. I marked all of them instead. The entire time I was smiling like a madman.

Ten minutes later, I was done. I set my pencil down, feeling pretty proud of my work. Piece of cake. If I still had hands, they would probably be cramping right now. I’m so glad I’m a unicorn. The stallion took my answer sheet and glanced at it. Confusion was written all over his face the moment he saw my answers. He looked at me questioningly, to which I responded with a cheerful smile. He merely shook his head and returned to his cold disposition.

The next test was given by a yellow mare with pale pink mane. “This next test will be on Equestrian history. We will begin in one minute.”

That one minute went by excruciatingly slow as we waited in silence. I tapped my hoof as I waited. “So… how was your day?” It couldn’t hurt to make small talk. It was better to make some sort of conversation than to sit quietly next to someone.

She looked at me with an apathetic expression. “Okay,” she replied tersely.

We still had about thirty seconds to go before I start, and her short answer did nothing to ease the tension of the atmosphere. My attempt at small talk only made the silence more awkward.

“You may begin now.”

I began my test, filling in each bubble without much thought into it. Failing that was guaranteed, but I wanted to have fun and made my sheet look like a smiley face. These ponies could use some cheering up, and what better way to cheer them up than with a smile? Like the first proctor, I watched as she scrunched her nose when she collected my test. There’s no way a private school is going to accept me.

It was break now. Cheerilee served some coffee for the examiners, and of course, I didn’t get any because I was “too young” to drink coffee. I used this time to go to the restroom, but before walking back into the classroom, I decided to listen in on what the older ponies were discussing with one ear against the door.

“He did that on his test?” asked the first proctor’s voice.

“I can’t be sure if it was intentional or not, but his underperformance shows that he acts more immature than he should for his age,” said a female voice, the examiner of the history portion of the test.

“I think the best course of action would be to put him in a younger class so he can improve his performance. Of course, this is just my opinion based on the results so far,” said another voice, probably belonging to the other stallion in the room.

I took a step back from the door and stood there with my mouth gaping. They’re holding me back? No wait, they’re sending me back a grade?! No, no, no! I just don’t want to go to Canterlot! Crap! Looks like I’m going to have to try now.

“Hmmm, but his test results aren’t consistent with his school work,” said another mare. “It might be the stress of testing that may be affecting him. I suggest we have Miss Cheerilee nearby him to create a more comforting environment and see how he does in the next few tests.” There were murmurs of agreement all around.

I walked back inside and took my seat, acting like I didn’t just eavesdrop on them. The next examiner, a gray stallion with a black mane, passed out the next portion of the assessment: writing.

You can do this. You can’t fail now or it’s pony kindergarten. I looked towards Cheerilee, who was standing in front of me. She smiled at me, alleviating some of the stress. I put on a forced grin. Right, I just have to try my best.

I turned my attention back to my test and looked at the first question. Circle the correct word choice. The dog lied/lay on the floor. Lied or lay? Dammit, why didn’t I pay more attention on this back in school? I’ll just go with ‘lay’. That sounds right. Next question: He bought apples from the pony, who/whom he bumped into earlier. Who he bumped into? Whom he bumped into? Who cares?! What’s the difference between the two?! I spent more time on some of the questions than I should have on the writing portion of the test, but I was sure I made up for it by answering all the easy questions quickly.

“Please put your pencil down. The writing portion is now over,” said the stallion.

I did as I was told and let the proctor collect my test. I sighed. Phew. Almost didn’t finish there. I could feel the fatigue weighing down on me after a few hours into the assessment. Fortunately, it was almost over. Everyone in the room left all of a sudden, leaving me alone with the fourth Canterlot examiner. The final examiner was a beige mare with straight brown mane. She didn’t pass out any paper or anything. Instead, she walked up to my desk with a clipboard.

“Hello, Lyle. My name’s Apple Polish. How are you today?”

Wow, the first pony to finally make a conversation and the first to actually give a name? What’s up with the change in attitude? “Er… fine, I guess. Maybe a little tired.”

She scribbled something down on her clipboard. “Lyle, I’m just going to ask you a couple questions to see how you’re doing in school, alright?”

I nodded slowly. “Alright…?”

“So, how are you doing in school? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She wrote something in her clipboard again.

“What do you think of your teacher, Miss Cheerilee?”

“Well, I think she’s a great teacher.” Again, she goes back to her clipboard. What the hell is she writing on there?

“Are you bored in class? Do you feel that the work is too easy or too hard?”

“Yes—I mean, no! I mean… it’s alright.” This time she spent much longer writing in her stupid clipboard than the other times. She flipped through some pages.

“From what I’ve read, you’ve just moved to Ponyville. Are you making friends?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Any bullies?” she asked.

Hmm, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Nah, better not make this any more complicated than it already is. “Nope.”

“Any problems at home?”

"Nope, no problems at home."

“Good, good. What about your parents? Where are they?”

After my little interview with Twilight, I finally got my story down. “They… passed away,” I lied, doing my best to put on a pout.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized, putting a placating hoof on my shoulder.

“It’s fine. Things happen unexpectedly.” Like being sent to a cartoon world or being turned into a pony or being turned into a kid.

She withdrew her hoof and picked up her clipboard again. "Miss Heartstrings is taking care of you now, right?"

As much as I hated to admit it, that was true – me, a grown man, being cared for by someone my age. It wasn't like I wanted it to happen. It just did. I silently nodded.

"How do you feel about the living with her? Do you ever feel uncomfortable at home?"

Well, there was the time Lyra licked me... I shook my head. "No, she’s nicest pony I’ve ever met. She’s kind and caring and selfless.” I thought about my first night in Equestria. She just took me in her home, let me sleep in her bed, and fed me. If it weren’t for her, I would have probably caught a cold or worse in that storm. “Sometimes I feel like I'm getting more than what I deserve..."

The mare abruptly stopped writing. "Oh? Why is that?"

I bit my tongue, too late to undo what I said. "Oh, uh, it's nothing." Oh how I wanted to bash my head on my desk right now. Dammit, why did I say that?!

"Lyle, is there something wrong? Something on your mind? You can always talk to me or Miss Cheerilee if you're having problems at home or outside of school." No, I can't because you wouldn't understand if I told you!

“N-nothing’s wrong,” I stammered, unaware that I was tapping my hoof nervously on the floor. She nodded as she wrote furiously on her clipboard. Seriously, what is she writing? I barely said anything! “Um, Miss Polish, what are you writing?”

She looked up from her clipboard. “Hmm? Oh, it’s just my notes.”

I craned my neck to get a better look at what she’s writing. “Can I see?”

She pulled the clipboard away before I could take a glimpse of it. “Sorry, Lyle, but this is for me. Besides, you wouldn’t be interested. It’s boring grown-up stuff and filled with things you wouldn’t understand.”

I crossed my hooves and huffed at being treated like a little kid again. “I am a grown-up…” I mumbled under my breath.

She brought out some pieces of paper and placed them on my desk face down. “Okay, Lyle. I’m going to show you some pictures and you tell me what you see in them, okay?”

She stood behind me and lifted the first piece of paper, revealing a black splotch of ink. A Rorschach test? Okay… “I see a butterfly or a moth.”

She jotted something down. And onto the clipboard it goes. She flipped the next paper. “And this one?”

I tilted my head at the picture. It’s hard to say what something looks like when it doesn’t really look like anything. “Uh, I see a crab, I think. Either that or two dancers doing a pelvic thrust." She gave me a strange look. What? You asked.

This went on for a while: look at an inkblot, say what it looks like, and then what I say goes on the clipboard. Real difficult, right? I had no idea how this test worked, so I just said whatever came to mind when I saw the inkblots, like two poodles eskimo kissing or two hippos with huge badonkadonks. Yeah… there was no other way to describe those inkblots; it was probably the closest I could think of to describe the pictures. After about eight or so inkblots, we were done. She packed up the inkblot sketches. "Okay, Lyle. We're just going to do one last test."

Finally, I inwardly groaned.

She put some sheets of paper on my desk. “You’re doing great so far. All I need you to do is a little more writing for me, and then you’ll be done. Please try to answer the question however you feel is best. Okay?”

I nodded, trying to stifle a groan. Great, more writing? Might as well get this over with.

I looked at the essay prompt: Ponies often have to make hard decisions. Write about a time when you have had to make a hard decision and what you gained from it.

I re-read the prompt again. Huh, well that’s… coincidental. It was like this essay prompt was written for me. There were so many things I could talk about. I could have talked about lying to my friends like being human or being an adult. But I couldn’t say any of that, not without blowing my secret anyway. I didn’t want to get too personal with my essay, so I had to find something else to talk about. Shit, there are a million things I could talk about, but I can’t say most of them without revealing anything. What else can I talk about?

About twenty minutes had gone by and I still hadn’t written anything yet. I stared at the blank piece of paper in front of me as I tapped my pencil on it. I have to write something! Anything! Come on, think! Think, think, think! Wait a minute, that’s it!

I picked up my pencil and frantically wrote down my thoughts onto the paper. Going to a private school sounds like a big opportunity, but I wouldn’t want to go if it means leaving all my friends behind. There are some things that are more important than a good education. To me, friends are worth more than all the bits in the world. Friends are always there for you, for both good times and bad times. I wouldn't give up my friends for anything, and I wouldn't have realized it sooner if it weren't for my best friends -- Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle…

Minutes flew by, and before I knew it, it was over. “Time’s up. Please put your pencil down.”

I dropped my pencil from my magical grip, letting it fall onto my desk. I wrote a little less than two pages, a small concern to me. I just hoped the quality of my work would make up for its short length.

“Well, that’s the end of the test, Lyle. Thank you for taking the time to take this test. I hope you have a great future.”

I shook her hoof. “Yeah… it was, um, nice meeting you too.”

“Goodbye, Lyle, and good luck,” she said as she joined the other Canterlot ponies as they left.

Cheerilee returned short after. “Well, how was it, Lyle?”

I scratched the back of my head. “It was… okay.” By “okay”, I mean I have no clue whether or not I’m being sent back a grade or going to a different school.

“That’s good to hear.”

“So when do I get to see how I did today?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Oh, the results are for your paren— I mean, for Lyra to read. You wouldn’t want to read it; it’s for grown-ups, you know, the boring, complicated stuff.” Figures.

“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school, Miss Cheerilee. Bye.”

“Bye, Lyle,” she said as she waved goodbye.

After leaving school, I could still feel the apprehension in me, like a tightly coiled spring ready to burst. The anticipation was just killing me. Who knows when the results would arrive? Any day now, some letter in the mail was going to tell me whether I did horribly bad or horribly good. All I wanted was to let things stay the same. How am I going to tell the girls the news? Sorry I got sent back a couple grades, or sorry I got sent to another school? Ugh, why did school have to make my life more complicated than it already is?

I came across a pebble and kicked it. The only thing I could do now was wait. Unfortunately, that was the hardest part.

~~~~~~~

A few weeks had gone by until I finally heard something in the form of a knock on my door. “Lyle, are you busy?”

I put my book down. Aw, I was just getting to the good part on Illusions and You. “No, come in.”

Lyra opened the door and hovering beside her wrapped in the golden glow of her magic was a letter. Uh oh. At first, I thought some unpleasant news regarding my education reached Lyra, but that didn’t explain the smile on her face. “Congratulations, Lyle! You did so well on your test that you got into a good school in Canterlot for gifted ponies.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it says here you were very creative and very good at writing. Now you’ll get to learn more new things at this private school for smart foals. Isn’t it great?”

“No!” I shouted. Lyra’s ears folded back, wincing at my sudden outburst. I took a deep breath. “I mean, no. It’s not great. It’s terrible.” I cradled my head in my hooves.

“W-what do you mean, Lyle?”

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. “I don’t want to go to a new school.”

She trotted over to me and sat down beside me. “Why? What’s the matter, Lyle?” she asked as she stroked my mane.

“I don’t want to go because it’ll mean leaving you and all my friends behind.” I felt something warm and soft wrap around me. I found myself being hugged by Lyra as she comforted me. My head rested on her chest, the hairs of her fur coat tickling my nose. It felt nice to sit like this with Lyra – her holding me against her.

She continued to hold me and stroked my back. “It’s alright, Lyle. Everything is going to be fine.” Although she was calming me down like a mother does to an upset child, I didn’t mind it, so I let her do it just this once; like I said before, it felt nice. She nuzzled my face. “No one is making you go.”

My eyes widened at the sudden revelation. I broke the hug. “Wait, you mean I don’t have to go?”

She shook her head. “No, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. What gave you the idea that you were being forced to go?” Three adorable little fillies…

I was at a loss for words. “B-but… What?!” I worried about that for nothing?! I found a mint-colored hoof waving in front of my face. Apparently, I had been staring blankly for who knows how long while I was mentally chastising myself.

“Hello? Equestria to Lyle, you there?”

I shook my head. “Y-yeah. Sorry, what were you saying?”

She giggled, bringing a small smile to my face. “Dinner’s ready, by the way.”

“Sure, I’ll be down in just a sec.”

She left my room and went downstairs. I did the first thing that came to my mind. I walked over to the thickest book I could find and proceeded to bash my head with it. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Of course, I could have chosen not to go! God dammit, I spent all that time worrying for nothing! Well, I’m glad I’m going to make three certain fillies very happy. I wondered how that was going to turn out

~~~~~~~

“REALLY?!” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo shouted as they glomped me, cutting off the oxygen from entering my lungs.

“Yes, yes, you’re all very happy, but would you please do me a tiny favor and let me go before I pass out?” I gasped.

Scootaloo fluttered her wings excitedly. “But that’s great! You’re staying!”

I filled my lungs with precious air before giving a smirk. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Apple Bloom hooked a hoof around my neck. “Yeah, you get ta stay in Ponyville!”

“Mhmm, Cutie Mark Crusaders stick together!” added Sweetie Belle.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, YEAH!” they all cheered, much to my ears’ displeasure at being so close to the commotion. Note to self: buy ear plugs.

The bell rang, grabbing our attention. We rushed back into class, with me nearly running into Cheerilee on the way in.

“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee!” I apologized.

“Don’t run inside, Lyle," she scolded. "What’s got you so excited today?”

After taking the assessment, I realized I could pay a little more attention in class. Wouldn't want to miss out on anything important, you know? Gotta start acting the way I looked. “Oh, I’m just eager to learn today. I’m ready for your lessons, Miss Cheerilee!” I beamed. Yep, going for straight B’s instead.

She gave me a warm smile. “I’m sure you are.”

Author's Note

This is a filler. Blargh...
Special thanks to Toni_PWNeroni especially for this chapter.

First Encounter

A breeze was what I felt at first. I shivered from the gentle touch of the wind brushing against my shoulder.

I must have left the window open again, I thought to myself. A strong wind buffeted my entire body, sending an icy chill down my spine.

Shit! I better close th– Wait a minute... I don’t remember opening the window before falling asleep. A cold, wet feeling on my nose brought me back to my senses as I began to open my eyes.

Trees. Lots of trees. From all sides I was surrounded by trees that seemed to look at me with malice and anguish, their bark contorted to look like faces while their branches reached out like outstretched arms clawing at the wind and waiting to grab someone. The forest was dimly lit by the moonlight that managed to pierce the canopy of the forest, casting a pale glow over everything in its beams. All was still and quiet except for the occasional rustling of leaves in the trees and shrubs as I lay outside in the forest.

Wait. Outside? What am I doing outside?! I panicked. How the hell did I get outside? Did I sleep walk into the middle of a forest? Or did some nutjob abduct me and left me here for shits and giggles?

In the middle of my panic, I felt more wet drops on my face before becoming a full on barrage of raindrops.

Great, it's raining now. Well this is just perfect. What else could go wro—

As I was about to tempt fate, I heard a low growl behind me.

Stomach, please tell me that was you, I thought to myself. A twig snapping behind me shattered that thought, and I barely stopped myself from creating an embarrassing, wet mess.

I cursed under my breath. Three wolves crawled out from a bush as a flash of lightning lit up the secluded area with a thunderous clap. No. They weren't wolves. Wolves had fur and dark eyes. These things were shaped like wolves, but that was where the resemblance ended. Instead of fur, they were covered in tree bark and tree branches, the same with their teeth. The dark eyes of the natural predators were instead yellow, glowing orbs filled with hunger and bloodlust.

“Oh shit!”

I scrambled onto my arms and legs and bolted in a random direction, screaming for help at the top of my lungs. Seeing how I was in the middle of the forest with no one around, I stopped screaming and focused on getting away from the beasts. I didn't realize it at first, but I hadn't stood up to run and instead crawled on all four limbs at a pace that was faster than was humanly possible. I didn't question the matter since I was being chased by bloodthirsty wolf-like creatures. I heard adrenaline could make people do unbelievable things under extreme situations.

I scampered through thorny bushes, the trees’ long tendrils whipping and scratching my face as I passed them. Around the twisted trees and under the branches, I tried to shake off my pursuers. Go left! Now right! Duck under a branch. Jump over a rock. Watch out for the roots! The trees' roots sprouted out of the ground, and more than once, I had almost tripped on them. A single root could mean the difference between life and death. To lose momentum meant death, and if I had gotten caught on a hidden root, it would mean an untimely fate for me with the wooden wolves. Keeping an eye out where I was going, not once did I think about stopping as I plowed through the many natural obstacles. Often, I would see a tree branch, thinking it was another wolf of the pack – an ambush, I thought. I veered away from those branches, zigzagging in my directionless run through the forest.

I felt warm liquid fall down my cheek. I knew that some of the branches left a cut on my face, but I didn't care to check since my only goal right now was to survive. I heard the heavy panting and snarling of the wooden wolves not far behind me as they slowly closed the distance. Don’t look back – was what I told myself. There was no time to look back to see how close they were. I couldn’t take the chance in fear of tripping over something in front of me. The deafening claps of thunder and flashes of lightning became more frequent. Hot tears streaked my cheeks, getting into some of the cuts, and cold sweat and rain covered the rest of my body. The icy winds nipped at my face as I ran. My body went numb from the cold. My head felt light. My lungs burned.

Oh god. I don’t want to die. Mom. Dad. I can’t imagine how they’ll react to this when they find me dead. If they find my body… torn, ripped, and mangled… I shuddered at the image.

As these unpleasant thoughts filled my head, I saw a clearing up ahead. It was the end of the forest. Freedom from the oppressive, suffocating forest: so close, so far. I heard more snarls and growls and the snapping of jaws from the wolves behind me, only this time closer. I doubled my speed, fueled only by the rush of adrenaline and the will to live. Both my body and my mind were numb from the adrenaline and the cold.

A low branch hung in front of me. I charged through it, causing the branch to pull back and let out an audible thwack, probably smacking one of the wolves in the head judging by the painful yelp I heard. More branches hung low in front of me, and with each one, I did the same thing I did with the first – charge through, thwack,a yelp behind me. I heard the steps behind me dwindle into silence by the time I passed into the clearing and into an open dirt road. I didn't turn back to see what happened and continued to run down the road. Far away, I saw buildings with straw-thatched roofs.

Civilization! Civilization means people. And people mean help!

As I ran through the small town, I saw light coming from one of the windows of the buildings. Taking that as a sign that somebody was awake, I hurried towards it and rapidly pounded on the door.

"Help! Is anybody here?! I need help!" I shouted at the door. Please let there be someone home.

The sound of my voice surprised me. It sounded a little higher than usual. I brushed it off thinking it was the wind distorting my voice. After a few seconds, I realized that I was no longer being chased by those wooden monsters. The rain continued to fall on me, and I was growing extremely exhausted. I collapsed onto the ground with my limbs splayed out, while the adrenaline started to wear out and was slowly replaced by pain and coldness. The exhaustion from running in the cold rain hit me full force, sending a spike of pain in my head.

My vision began to blur, and I began to see tunnel vision. As I started to lose consciousness, the door opened, letting out a wave of warmth and a soft light. I couldn't really see who was at the door, but a tall shadow loomed over me as everything began to black out. I barely heard the person shouting over my barely conscious form.

"Bon Bon! Come quick! Somepony needs our help!"

Somepony?

~~~~~~~

Something warm and soft covered my body as I lay unconscious. As my senses gradually returned, I began to discern my surroundings one sense at a time. The soft fabric that covered my body was most likely a blanket, and I was lying on top of what I assumed to be a bed. A wave of relief washed over me knowing that I was taking comfort in my own bed.

Wow, that was some crazy, fucked up dream. Note to self: no more frozen pizza before bed.

As I made this thought, a slight pain rang in my head.

I guess the headache wasn't a dream. Hope I’m not getting sick.

Along with the pain in my head, I noticed I was sore all over too, and all the muscles in my body ached.

Ugh, I feel like shit. Don’t tell me it’s the flu. Damn you, influenza virus!

It was during my mental monologue that I felt another sensation all over my body. I felt the bed and the blanket on my skin, though without the clothes I wore to bed before falling asleep.

What the hell? Did I strip in my sleep? Well that explains the cold from my dream, and probably the reason for the way I feel right now. Maybe it felt hot some time during the night and I just happened to unconsciously strip down to my birthday suit. It's times like this I'm glad I live alone, otherwise it would be completely awkward if someone walked in on me like this.

As another one of my senses returned, a delicious aroma filled my nostrils. I recognized the smell as freshly made pancakes. Then, a thought struck me.

Wait, pancakes? Is someone making breakfast? Wait a minute… Who's making breakfast?

I got a little worried over the fact that there was someone making breakfast in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I love pancakes. It's just the fact that there was a person in my kitchen, who I don't know, making it. My parents would always give a call before coming over, so it couldn't be them. How this person got into my house left me in a very nervous state, since I was the only person who had keys to the condo. This meant that the person making me breakfast at the moment was probably some housebreaker. But then why would he make pancakes while I was still in the house?

Either this burglar didn't know I was sleeping in this room or he is probably the world's dumbest burglar to have ever existed.

I needed to find out who had the gall to break into my own domicile, call the police, and maybe eat the burglar's freshly made pancakes. What? I couldn't let good food go to waste. So with whatever strength I had in me, I did the first thing I could do and attempted to open my eyes. As my eyes slowly cracked open, I was bombarded with the unbearable rays of light that broke through the cracks of the curtains of the window. Ah, the sun. My old foe. Partner in crime with the dreaded alarm clock. Not expecting to have my eyes blinded by a bright ball of fire, I gave a loud yelp.

"Ah! God dammit!"

It was then I heard multiple footsteps hastily make its way upstairs, getting louder as the footsteps got closer. With the number of steps I heard, I counted out probably two people making their way towards the room I was in. This did not bode well with me. One: because there were two of them and one of me, leaving me at a poor disadvantage if a struggle were to occur. And two: because I was naked as a jaybird in my own bed. On the bright side, at least I didn't have morning wood, otherwise this would be ten times more awkward than it already was.

So without any other options in my current state, momentarily blinded and stark naked, I buried myself under the blanket and hoped they wouldn't come in, but that probably won't happen. With the sound of the door knob turning and the door creaking open, the two pair of footsteps entered the room. At this point, my heart was racing to the point where if it beat any faster, it would probably burst out of my chest. As I was panicking, a feminine voice called out.

"Oh! You're awake. You were in a pretty nasty shape last night, so Bon Bon and I brought you to my room for you to sleep. Are you feeling any better now?"

Bon Bon? Where have I heard that name before? And a woman? Well shit.

Now the situation just got more awkward with me being naked and my lower regions concealed by a thin layer of fabric. However, this woman's action just brought up another question, like why did she even care? I bet she was just waiting for me to come out of the covers so she can point a gun at my face, demand money, and possibly paint my room red with my bloody brain, and to make matters worse, she will probably find out that I wasn’t properly clothed and get a laugh out of that. Of course, this was just a worst case scenario, for all I know, she could just be a friendly nutjob who was offering me pancakes in my own home. I hoped for the latter. It beats being dead in the worst way possible, you know... naked in front of a woman.

"Hey, are you okay? There's no need to be scared. You're safe now," the woman said.

What should I have done in this situation? I could have stayed hidden under the covers and avoided the embarrassment of being found naked in the bed. But, it would only increase the awkwardness between us since she already knew I was hiding under the blanket. Let the awkward silent treatment continue or bring up a new form of awkwardness caused by my nudity? There was just no way out of this. In the middle of my thoughts of escape from the possibly hostile intruder, my stomach gave a loud gurgle, signaling Mr. Stomach's feeding time.

"Oh, you must be hungry! Why don't you come downstairs and have some breakfast? I have some pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice," the woman said in a non-threatening tone.

Seeing how I wasn't dead yet, I risked taking a peek out of the covers to see the oddly caring intruder. When I slowly brought my head out, dark spots covered my vision from the sunlight assault from before. As I blinked, my vision began to clear."Who are y--" That was as far as I got in my question.

I realized that the room I was sleeping in was not my own. There was a dresser with a large oval mirror above it. In the corner of the room was a small desk, cluttered with music sheets. Right next to the desk was a beautifully crafted lyre that stood apart from everything else in the room as it gleamed from the little light that lit up the room. The lyre was a golden color, and attached to the bottom of the lyre was a bell-shaped stand. What really got my attention though was what was standing in front of me. Standing before me was a mint-green unicorn with a white stripe streaking through her mane and tail and a lyre on her flank. Her eyes were a golden sunglow, and she wore a warm smile that showed no hint of malice.

The equine, or should I say “pony,” standing before me was none other than Lyra Heartstrings, the popular human-obsessed unicorn of the pony fandom, the one from My Little Pony, the girly cartoon I always watched. Yes, I was a brony, but I prefer to be called a pony enthusiast. It was at this time that my brain decided that now was the best time to shut down, taking away my ability to form coherent sentences.

"B-b-but… you… pony... real!" I managed to stutter as I was dumbstruck with the situation before me.

"Huh? What was that you said?" Lyra replied back with a concerned look on her face.

However, I only managed to stare back at her with my mouth gaping. I could've sworn my jaw dislocated by how far it dropped to the ground. So, awkwardly shifting on her hooves and scratching the back of her head (how she managed to do that I had no idea how), she gave a small cough to break the increasingly awkward silence.

"Well... My name is Lyra Heartstrings, but you can just call me Lyra," she beamed as she said this.

When I realized she was talking to me, I broke out of my mental stupor. "Uh, hi. My name's Lyle Hartston. Just Lyle is fine."

"Lyle Hartston?” she asked. “That's an unusual name. Where are you from?"

"Anaheim, California," I replied without thinking.

Confusion was plastered on her face as she looked at me with one eyebrow arched. No surprise there. I mean why wouldn't she be? I doubt she even heard of the place, let alone knew where it was. "Um... where's that?"

"It's in… America."

She tilted her head. "A-Mare-ica? I never heard of the place. Is it far?"

"Oh yeah. It's far alright." Really far.

"Well, where are your parents?"

"Parents?"

"Yes, your parents. Young colts can't be too far away from their parents. I'm sure they’re worried sick about you."

Now I was really confused, adding on more confusion to the initial confusion of being confused over how I got to Equestria; boy, I was really confused. With all the confusions aside, I caught a phrase that struck me. Young colts?

I slowly looked down at where my hands should be at, only to be confronted by two stubby limbs.

Hooves. I have fucking hooves, which only means...

I looked under the covers, and as I suspected, I saw an equine body with another pair of hooves for my legs, all matching the color of my arms, er forelegs. I felt something tug under me, and looking at the thing I was sitting on, I discovered I now had a tail that was a lighter shade of my coat with a white stripe running down it. I turned my head towards my back. There were no wings and no cutie mark. I felt the top of my head. When my hooves brushed against a solid object jutting out of the top of my head, I realized I had a horn, making me a unicorn.

I started to freak out a little... Okay, maybe a lot. I began to hyperventilate from the fact that I was transformed into a unicorn. The loss of hands was very distressing. There would be so many things I wouldn’t be able to do without hands: opening doors, holding things, masturb-- I mean playing guitar. As I was freaking out like any normal person would in my situation, Lyra moved a little closer to me. As she stood at the side of the bed, she seemed taller than me. No, she was taller than me. She was about a foot taller than me, and it was then that the phrase "young colts" clicked in my mind.

When Lyra got to the foot of the bed, she gave me a worried look. "When I found you at my doorstep, you were out cold. You were feverish, soaking wet, and shaking, covered in cuts and scrapes. What were you even doing out there in that storm?" When I didn't respond, she waved a hoof in front of my face. "Hello? You okay?"

I just found out that I woke up in Equestria, got chased my timberwolves, and woke up again only to be greeted by a fictional cartoon pony. Oh yeah, and this got much stranger when I didn’t think it could get any weirder. Just yesterday, I was just a twenty two year-old college student living a completely normal life, and now suddenly, I was no longer a human but a little colt. So with this new information hitting me like a ton of bricks, I acted as normal as I could, given the situation.

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile at Golden Oak’s Library...

Spike had finished organizing Twilight's books for the third time that day. After shelving, then reshelving, and reorganizing the books, Spike gave a grin at the fine job he did. The floors were polished and waxed. Not a single book cluttered the spotless floor. It was probably one of the few moments where a pony could actually see the floor of the library and home of Equestria's most studious pony, Twilight Sparkle. It was then that the lavender unicorn walked downstairs.

"Hey Twilight! I just finished organizing the books like you asked me to, again." said Spike.

Although Spike was Twilight's number one assistant, he was still annoyed by Twilight's habit of doing things multiple times just to make sure nothing was missed. Twilight gave an approving smile at the young dragon.

"Thank you, Spike. With reshelving the books off our to-do list, we can finally go to Sugarcube Corner and buy those sapphire cupcakes you wan–"

A bloodcurdling scream cut her off, making her hair stand on end.

"HOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Gender Confusion

You know, when you suddenly get sent to another world, you’d think your life would be a lot more interesting. Sure, it was at first. I thought that my life would be more exciting and filled with adventures when I came to Equestria, like fighting off long forgotten evils or going on wacky adventures with the Equestria’s saviors, but nope. Instead, I went back to school and spent my free time reading about magic and other stuff. I felt like fate ripped me off. Not much happens between the show’s episodes as it turned out. The life of a pony wasn’t that much different from that of a human. Kids are still kids; ponies, like humans, still have to work to eat; and tax collectors still collect taxes. The only thing different was the diet, the use of “somepony” instead of “somebody”, the new pony limbs, and of course, the presence of magic. Other than that, things weren’t much different here.

I strolled through the streets of Ponyville. My mind kept going back to my last night as a human. There were so many questions. How did I get here? Why was I here? So many questions, yet I had none of the answers. Bits and pieces of my last night on Earth started coming back. The last thing I remembered was coming back home and going into my room. Everything after that was hazy. I kept drawing a blank whenever I tried to think about what happened between then and when I woke up in the Everfree Forest.

I was too preoccupied by my thoughts to notice the filly trotting next to me. She held a pink flyer of two ponies, one bigger than the other. "Howdy Lyle! How're ya doing?" she asked with the flyer in her mouth.

Her voice broke me from my thoughts, startling me a bit. I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, nothing much, Apple Bloom. I guess I’m just waiting for the plot to unfold," I said casually.

She scrunched her nose, clueless to what I was talking about. "The what now?"

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” Though I said it was nothing, that didn’t stop her from giving me a suspicious look. Thankfully, I saw Sweetie Belle. “Hey, isn’t that Sweetie Belle?” I asked, changing the subject.

Apple Bloom turned her head in the direction I was looking. “Yeah, it is her! I wonder why she looks so sad.”

I began trotting in Sweetie Belle’s direction. “Then, I guess it’s up to us to cheer her up, right?”

She smiled and nodded. “Mhmm!” She ran ahead of me to cheer up Sweetie Belle. I chuckled at her enthusiasm to help her friend. Sweet kid. If only she could figure out what her cutie mark was…

Sweetie Belle walked with her head held low, her eyes looking down at the ground in front of her. She stopped in front of Apple Bloom, who now sported a happy grin. Apple Bloom set the flyer down. "How's the sleep over at Rarity's going?" she asked Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and grimaced. She then gave her best Rarity impression, which I had to admit was pretty good, complete with a pompous trot. "Why it's smashing!" She walked away, the scowl on her face returning.

Apple Bloom raised a brow. "Huh?"

The upset filly went up to a statue and sat on the pedestal. "I just wish we could do something special together that didn't include me goofing anything up."

Apple Bloom frowned at her failed attempt to cheer up Sweetie Belle. She was clearly concerned about her friend. I gave her a small cough to grab her attention and nodded my head at the flyer she put down. She seemed to get the idea judging by the huge smile she gave me. She picked up the flyer with her mouth and galloped towards Sweetie Belle. "The Sisterhooves Social! Applejack and I do it every year. You and Rarity can compete against other sister teams in all these neat events."

At the mention of the idea, Sweetie Belle lightened up. "That sounds like the perfect way for us to hang out! Rarity will think it's an excellent idea."

No, she won’t, I thought.

The two fillies turned their attention toward me, their smiles dampening at the sight of me. What’s up with them? Apple Bloom stepped forward. "Sorry Lyle, but the Sisterhooves Social is for sisters, and well, you're not exactly a filly." It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

"But other than that, if you were a filly, then I guess you and your sister, Lyra, could join Sisterhooves Social," added Sweetie Belle.

I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to join the girls in the Sisterhooves Social, but I didn't let it show. Instead, I laughed at what Sweetie Belle just said. "It’s okay. I'm fine with that, but Lyra and I aren't sisters." The two fillies apparently weren't expecting my reaction or my comment about Lyra and me.

"You and Lyra ain't siblings?" asked the confused Apple Bloom.

"So are you two like cousins?" Sweetie Belle asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, we're not even related."

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin and made the most adorable thoughtful expression. "If you and Lyra ain't kin, then why are ya living together then? Where's yer family?"

Uh oh. This question again. "Uh... I don’t have a family anymore, and the reason why I’m living with Lyra is because I kinda got lost one day and ended up in Ponyville where I met her. She and Bon Bon thought it was a great idea for me to stay with them for the time being, but I think I'm just going to live with them until I find a place of my own." I hope earning the bits to buy a house isn't going to take long. I don't want to wait until I'm older to move out. The sooner I move out, the sooner I could be less of a burden to them.

It was too late to realize what I had said by the time I noticed the pitiful looks I was getting from the two fillies. Aw dammit, not again.

"That's... that's so sad..." Sweetie Belle looked like she was on the verge of tears, and looking back at Apple Bloom, I could see some tears hanging at the corner of her eyes.

Fix this Lyle before the waterworks happen. Fix it!

I waved my hooves frantically. "Nononono, please don't cry! I'm fine! Really! I'm used to living on my own. It’s no big deal, honest!" Unfortunately, what I said I had the unintended effect I was trying to avoid. They came up to me and cried, trying to nuzzle me while at the same time getting my coat wet with their tears. Thankfully, there was no one around to see this. Their tear-streaked faces pulled at my heartstrings.

My heart can't take much more of this. I tried to cheer them up before I got a heart attack from their adorableness. "Come on, girls. Cheer up! There's no reason for you two to be sad about me. After all, I'm not crying, and I'm the one going through this."

Apple Bloom looked up from my right shoulder, which she was using to wipe her tears. "B-but it's just… not having a family is…” THOSE EYES!

I shushed her with a hoof. "I'm fine. Now wipe those tears. Come on, let’s see those smiles," I said with a big smile of my own. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at me with small smiles on their faces. The two got off my tear-soaked shoulders and wiped their eyes with their hooves. “Alright, you two have fun at the social, and no more crying, you hear me?” The Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded. “See you later, girls.”

“Bye, Lyle,” they said.

I walked back home. Lyra and Bon Bon weren't home yet, so I went up to my room and closed the door behind me. I rubbed my temples and let out a heavy sigh. I felt a headache growing as I was reminded of my stressful situation, and explaining to the girls why I was living with Lyra and Bon Bon didn’t make it any better.

I brought out one of Twilight’s books, the one on illusions. I flipped to a page, going over the steps for casting a more complex illusion. It was about time I tried my hooves at something a little harder. The sooner I looked older, the better. Though, as I was reading, I reminded of the reason for doing this. It was just another cover-up to become something I wasn’t. I was using another illusion to hide the fact that I was a little colt while hiding the truth that I was an adult human. There was another shot of pain from my headache – the pang of guilt. I stuffed it down the deepest recess of my mind before turning my attention back to what I was doing.

Okay, so I just have to keep the image I want to look as in my head while casting the spell. Let’s see… Warning, side effects may include: drowsiness, nausea, itching, blah blah blah… Ah, here we go!

I set the book down in front of me and closed my eyes as I prepared the spell. A light, prickling sensation covered the top of my forehead where my horn was. I clenched my eyes shut as the pressure built on my horn. I tried to visualize myself older, but the guilty thoughts crept back to my mind.

It’s not lying. I’m just trying to look my age, that’s all. Besides, I’m already lying by being a colt, and it’s not like I chose to be a colt. The pressure in my horn increased.

I’ll come clean to everyone as soon as I figure everything out. What would Lyra say if she found out? I shuddered at the thought as my mind shifted to the unicorn taking care of me. I didn’t want to think about how she would react. I imagined her being very concerned at my mental state or very angry that I had lied to her. Either way, it didn’t look good for me.

I was so distracted by my thoughts of Lyra that I almost forgot about the magic charging in my horn. By the time I realized it, it was too late. With a bright flash from my horn, everything turned white. I felt all the pent up magic flow out of my horn like a geyser. A tingling feeling covered my body. I didn’t have enough time to scream or yell in panic as it was over in an instant. By the time my vision came back, I was seeing stars. I held my hooves over my eyes.

“Ugh, I am not doing that again,” said a girl’s voice. My ears shot up as I looked around the room for whoever said that.

“Is anyone here?” I asked, but there was a girl’s voice instead of my own.

I cleared my throat. “H-hello?” The same voice answered again, which was the only answer I needed to figure out what happened. “Is that my voice? Is that my voice?!”

My hooves reached up to my face, feeling my muzzle and my throat. I needed a mirror. I ran, or rather stumbled, into the bathroom, taking a good look at myself in the mirror. It was not the result I had in mind...

I looked about the same age as I was before I cast the spell. But then I noticed some minor changes to my body… My eyelashes were longer. My muzzle was smaller. My body looked slimmer than before. For a second, I thought I was looking at a picture of Lyra of when she was a foal, but that was not the case. I raised a hoof, and so did the filly in the mirror. I slapped myself in the face, a painful reminder that hooves weren’t as soft as hands. I blinked twice at the filly who stood in the reflection. As realization sunk in, I gave a loud high-pitched scream.

"AAAAAAHHH!" I scrambled away from the mirror.

With my mind confused and screaming in panic, I thought freaking out was the best thing to do in my situation. “Oh no! Oh nonono! This can’t be happening!" In the midst of my panicking, I slowly looked down to confirm something. When I looked between my legs, I noticed a certain part of me missing and replaced with something… new… With a clear view of my new anatomy, I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, burning them as they took on a scarlet hue. I looked away and closed my legs. What the fuck happened?!

I fell onto my haunches and shook my head. “It’s just an illusion. It’s just an illusion. It better be an illusion.” Illusion or not, the fact that I now looked like a filly was distressing.

I rushed back to my room, picking up the book I was reading from. I hastily turned the pages to the spell. I facehoofed at what I was seeing. With the amount of magic I put into the spell, there was no exact time for how long I was going to be stuck like this, but I’d say a couple days, maybe… So, here I was stuck as a filly, adding on to the problem of being stuck in Equestria and transforming from a human to a unicorn, a young colt no less. Oh, I almost forgot to add being a huge liar to the list.

I spent the next few minutes banging my head against the floorboards of my room. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" I shouted after each thump of my skull making contact with the floor. I took a deep breath. “Okay, calm down. I have to calm down. I just need to wait it out. Yeah, that’s it! I just gotta wait it out!” I didn’t realize I was talking to myself like a certain purple unicorn, but at least I had a legitimate reason for being stressed out. I hopped onto my bed and lied there. “I just have to go without seeing anyone for a while until the spell wears out, and everything will be just fine.”

"Lyle, you here? I'm home!" called Lyra.

Oh great… I forgot she and Bon Bon lived here. I didn't want to see her at the moment with the way I was now, but that didn't stop Lyra from poking her head through my door. "Hey Lyle, what's goin—" She stopped mid-sentence, staring at me. The door was left wide open, giving her a full view of me. She slowly trotted in, still keeping her eyes on me.

I didn't get up from my bed. Instead, I stared at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with her. "Hey Lyra. What's up?" I said. I still couldn’t get used to my new voice.

Lyra gawked at me, taking in all the changes that came with being transformed into a filly. "Why… No, how are you a filly?!"

I turned my head towards her, giving her a deadpan expression. "Magic… Magic happened." She was obviously still confused. “I’ll explain later. Just leave me alone for a while…” Without a word, she nodded and headed back downstairs. It must have been weird for her to see someone that looked like a younger version of herself, more so for me.

I lied on my bed for quite a while, just thinking about things, like what I would do if I was stuck like this or how my friends were going to treat me or all the events that led up to this moment. I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life looking like a filly or a mare, even if it was an illusion. I gagged at the thought of a stallion or colt hitting on me, a thought I locked away in my mind, never to see the light of day again. By the time it was dusk, Lyra called me down for supper.

She knocked on my door. “Lyle? Are you okay to come down for dinner?”

I rolled off my bed and opened the door, revealing Lyra. She stood there with a worried expression on her face. I nodded listlessly. “Uh huh.”

We trotted downstairs and into the dining room wordlessly. Bon Bon sat at the table, a look of shock on her face when she saw me, though she didn’t say anything. I sat down and began eating the soup in front of me. Dinner went on in awkward silence with the occasional sounds of slurping. Thankfully, Lyra shattered the silence and was the only one brave enough to address the elephant in the room. She put down her spoon and looked at me. "Lyle, care to explain what happened?"

I stopped eating and set my spoon down. "Not really…” I withered under her gaze as she shot me a look demanding answers. I wasn’t going to get out of an explanation for this one. “Alright, fine. Long story short, something went wrong with a spell I was trying to learn, but don’t worry! This is just an illusion.”

The air in the room was thick with tension until Bon Bon spoke up. "So, how long are you a filly?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Oh, it’ll wear off in few days." Hopefully…

Lyra let out a sigh I didn't know she had been holding. "Well that's good. It would have been really bad if you were stuck that way forever."

"Don't jinx it," I replied curtly.

Seeing my irritable expression, Lyra looked around the room trying to find some way to get my mind off the situation. All of a sudden, her ears perked up and she began to smile. "Lyle, I have an idea that will cheer you up."

I stared at my soup as I absently stirred it with my spoon. "What?"

She left the table and returned with a flyer floating next to her. "You and I could join the Sisterhooves Social!"

I eyed the flyer and then at her. Is she serious?

"Even though you and I aren't sisters, we can join the events since we practically look related," she said.

Now that I was a filly, I could show up at the social and hang out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Uh, sure, I guess that sounds okay."

Lyra beamed at me. "Great! Now we just need to give you a filly's name."

“Wait, what?” I have to change my name too?

"Well, we can't keep calling you ‘Lyle’ now that you're a filly. We have to come up with a new name for you."

Oh, that makes sense. I’d probably die from embarrassment if anyone else found out about this. So names, huh? Amanda, Julie, Lauren? No wait, I need pony names. Maybe Minty Green? Nah, something else that doesn’t sound a brand of breath mints. What else is there? I tapped my chin with a hoof. I looked around the room for ideas for a good name. My eyes stopped at Lyra’s cutie mark. Hmm, maybe something with music?

A name finally hit me. "What about Melody?" I asked.

"Hmm, Melody sounds nice. What do you think Bon Bon?" Lyra turned to the earth pony mare.

Bon Bon shrugged her shoulders. "The name is okay, but are you really going to do this?" she asked.

"Sure we are! It'll cheer up poor Lyle, I mean Melody, here after all she's been through," she winked, giving me a nudge.

Bon Bon gave a sigh. "Well, okay. You two do what you want."

After cleaning up after dinner, we all went to our rooms. I didn't know what Bon Bon was doing, probably sleeping or doing whatever she did in her free time, but from my room, I could hear the sound of Lyra practicing her lyre. Each string she strummed created the most wondrous sound that rang in my ears. As I lied in bed, my mind wandered to the guitar I saw in the shop the other day. I really missed playing music, and I didn't even have my phone or my computer with me to listen to my songs. My eyes grew heavier each minute. The last thing I heard before sleeping was Lyra’s lyre, humming its little tune.

~~~~~~~

Today was the day of the Sisterhooves Social. Colorful tents were propped up, and mares and fillies were taking part in all sorts of events of the fair, from pie eating contests to apple bobbing. In the center of the fair, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh stood on a raised platform, ready to announce the big race.

"Now, the event you've all been waiting fer! The Sister Soci— The Socialhoof— Oh, dabnabbit, you know, the big race!" announced the green, old mare.

Lyra and I lined up at the starting the line. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as we got ready. Although I wanted to go to the Sisterhooves Social and watch Sweetie Belle and Rarity race, I was still uncomfortable looking like a filly. It would be really embarrassing if the illusion wore off in the middle of the race in front of every single mare and filly at the social. Beside us were the other competitors. Of course, I recognized a particular pair.

As we lined up, Sweetie Belle noticed me and Lyra. I turned my head to the side away from her, hoping she wouldn’t recognize me. "Hi Lyra! I didn't know you had a sister." From the corner of my eyes, Applejack also looked just as surprised when she saw me.

"This is my sister, Melody. Say hi, Melody," Lyra said, nudging me with her nose.

I gave an awkward smile. "Uh... hiya." There’s no way they would believe that I’m her sister.

Sweetie Belle went up to me and held out a hoof. “Hi Melody! My name’s Sweetie Belle.” I took her hoof and shook it. I can’t believe she bought it…

“Howdy there,” greeted Applejack. “Ah’m Applejack. Lyra never told us she had a sister.”

I scratched the back of my head, giving a nervous chuckle. “Uh, yeah, it’s because I still live with, uh, Mom and Dad, and I’m here to visit her in Ponyville.”

Thankfully, I didn’t have to answer any more questions as the race was about to start. We all got in our positions.

“Good luck. Hope you two win,” I said to Sweetie Belle.

“Thanks, you too!” She beamed.

"On your marks... get set... Gooooo!" shouted Granny Smith as she poked her eye on the megaphone. Ouch, that had to hurt.

Lyra and I wasted no time as we ran ahead of the others. Taking a glance back, I noticed Rarity jump into the mud pit with a grimace on her face just before Sweetie Belle turned around to check up on Applejack. I smiled at this and continued on with the race. Lyra and I got through all the events quickly since I told her some of the strategies of winning each event. It helped to watch the show. By the time we got to the finish line, we had won in a record breaking time, followed by Sweetie Belle and “Applejack”.

Shortly after, Sweetie Belle finally figured out the switcheroo Applejack and Rarity did during the race. Apple Bloom came up running up to the three of them to congratulate Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Lyra and I decided to show up to show some good sportsmanship, or sportsponyship, if that made any sense.

"That was a great race, you two. We had lots of fun didn't we, Melody?" asked Lyra.

I nodded. "Yep! I had a great time."

We laughed and talked about the race, how funny it was to see Rarity act so “uncouth”, and Rarity’s plan to win her sister back. Needless to say, it was a blast. Like everyone else, Rarity asked the question about Lyra’s sudden appearance of a sister. "Lyra, I didn't know you had a sister. When did this happen?"

Before Lyra could even respond, I started glowing golden yellow, the same color as my magic. Oh no, not now! The tingling sensation returned, followed by a bright flash. All the girls that were there shielded their eyes from the bright flash, and like the first time I cast the spell, it was over. When they looked back at where I was, their eyes nearly bulged out and their jaws dropped down. The only exception to this was Lyra, who seemed relieved at the sight of me.

"LYLE?!" they shouted.

I looked over myself, glad to be male once again, then back at the ponies who shouted, shock and confusion plastered on their faces. Lyra stood with them, smiling at their reactions just like I was doing. I nervously laughed. "Heh heh, surprise?" It didn’t take long for the barrage of questions to hit me.

“You were Melody?”

“How’d ya do that?”

“That was cool! Do that again!”

With some help from Lyra, I was able to calm everyone down. I retold the tale of my magical mishap yesterday and how Lyra suggested the idea of the joining the social. I, of course, left out the reasons for wanting to change how I looked, simply stating that I wanted to learn more. I didn’t need anyone prying into my business, after all. After answering as many questions as I possibly could, I asked, "So, have you girls learned anything today?”

Rarity and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other, both their mouths shifting into a smile, before Rarity turned towards me. “Yes, Lyle. Yes, I have.”

“Me too,” added Sweetie Belle.

There was a heartfelt moment between Rarity and Sweetie Belle as they nuzzled each other, followed by all of us laughing when Rarity mentioned going to the spa. We all went home after the day's events. By now, Spike was probably writing a letter to Princess Celestia about Rarity and Sweetie Belle's lesson on friendship. At this time, Lyra and I were walking home just talking about stuff.

"Lyra, today was so much fun. Thank you for, you know, everything."

"It's no problem, Lyle," she replied.

"Well, thanks again for trying to cheer me up."

She gave a titter which I had grown to love. "That's what friends do."

I felt both happy and a bit sad when she said "friends". I quickly shook my head. Where did that come from? Am I really falling for her? I've only been in Equestria for about a week, and I'm still not sure if there's a way back home yet. Maybe it’s gotta be the spell messing with my hormones. Yeah, that's got to be it.

The rest of the walk went by in peaceful silence. By the time I got back to the house, I went to my room, taking out a pencil and a parchment. I began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I've learned an important lesson on the magic of friendship. I realize how precious the bond between friends really is. After seeing your student's friends, Applejack and Rarity, laughing and playing with their sisters during the Sisterhooves Social, I see now that sisters aren't just siblings. No, they're more than that. They're best friends. Siblings will have their ups and downs, that much is inevitable, but no force will be strong enough to tear them apart. They will continue on being the best of friends. The magic of friendship cannot be described with these words for it is much greater than that.
From,
Anonymous

After checking over the letter with a satisfied smile, I rolled the parchment up and tied it with a blue ribbon I found in the closet of stored boxes. I planned on sending an anonymous report on friendship every now and then. It was kind of a way to keep track of my adventures here in Equestria. Now with the letter held in my mouth, I teleported outside my window before gravity sent me falling down to the earth. Thankfully, a bush cushioned my fall, though it wasn’t exactly comfortable with a branch poking my back. I gotta work on that as well as my landing.

Stumbling out of the bush, I ran to Twilight's home just outside her window. I made sure I wasn't seen from the window as I stuck close to the wall. Looking inside, I saw Spike shelving some books and Twilight reading and taking notes. Looking at the note in my mouth and the book in front of Twilight, I tried to teleport my letter in front of her book. My aim was a little off. Instead of teleporting the letter on top of the page she was reading, it popped up above her head before landing on the unsuspecting mare. Startled by the sudden appearance of a scroll, she looked around the room before glaring at Spike.

“Spike, what was that for?!” she yelled.

Said purple dragon was still on a ladder, precariously balancing a stack of books in his arms. However, he fell and dropped all the books on the floor when his name was called. “What was what for?” he asked, rubbing his head. I made sure to stick to the shadows outside her house to avoid being seen but close enough to the window to see what's going on.

She lifted the scroll in front of Spike. “You didn’t just throw this at me?”

Spike shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”

She cast a questioning glance at Spike before turning to the scroll. She unrolled the piece of paper and began reading it. I saw her smile when she started reading the letter, but that smile gradually faded as she took on a more confused look.

Twilight put a hoof to chin. I watched her nose scrunch and her brows furrow as she stared the scroll, as if she could find some hidden answer by scrutinizing between the lines. She gave a sigh and levitated the blue-ribboned scroll to Spike, who quickly let out a breath of green fire. The parchment was magically incinerated, and the wispy remains of the letter flew out of the window I was looking from, heading towards Canterlot.

With my letter now sent, I ran back to Lyra's house and teleported to my window, just barely getting in, without Lyra even noticing I was gone. Dinner went on as usual with me, Lyra, and Bon Bon as we ate another vegetarian meal, no surprise there. I still missed the taste of meat and all the dishes with it, but since the ponies here didn't eat meat and the cows were sentient, I didn't have much of a choice.

With dinner finished, we all hung around at the table, talking about how our day went. My day turned out better than expected, despite being turned into a filly by an illusion spell gone wrong. It was getting late. We all headed towards our rooms and got ready for bed. The whole day as well as yesterday was, in summary, unbelievably crazy. Getting turned into a filly isn't something that happens every day to a guy. I flopped onto my bed, exhausted. While lying in my bed, I thought out loud.

"Fate, or whoever is messing with my life, the next time you decide to give me an adventure, leave my fucking genitals out of it. Please?" I was soon out like a light.

~~~~~~~

Soon after Spike sent the mysterious friendship report to Princess Celestia, Twilight was racking her brain over the letter. Although Twilight continued from where she left off in her reading, her mind was still on the scroll and the mysterious sender, like a riddle that needed to be solved. Who sent that letter to me? Judging from the letter, this pony seems to know Applejack, Rarity, and for some reason, me. Apparently, he knows about my friendship reports, which was probably why he sent the letter to me and Spike. I wonder who it could be.