I awoke one morning...

I woke up in a room I did not recognise. My first thought was that of the dream I had while unconscious, which was just a re-run of the last one. My next thought was why was I in a bed? I passed out in an orchard, not in a hotel. Surveying my surroundings, I realized I was in what appeared to be a guest bedroom. The walls were barren of detail, other than a few shelves in the corner, the cupboards were empty as if they had been left for a new house-mate (Or just a pony with no clothes... Eh, cartoon logic) and the bed was remarkably clean, bar the fact I had just been sleeping in it. In fact, the only details that told me that I was in a home at all was the window on the far side of the bedroom, showing a beautiful view of the orchard and a small portrait of the Apple family on the bed-side table.

Picking up the picture frame, I studied the photo inside with great detail. Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Applejack and Apple Bloom were all standing in front of the farmhouse with Winona sat down next to Apple Bloom's left flank. It was quite a happy little picture that reminded me of my own home back on Earth. Reminiscing time over, I removed the photo from its frame and placed it in my pocket as a memento. They'll have a copy of it somewhere... I think.

A small creak emanated from the corner of the room. My first instinct was to face who or what had made the noise, but I had a pretty good hunch about who it was. I turned my head slightly, as to look at the door from the corner of my eye. A large red bow could be seen poking through the open door frame, along with a large orange eye. It was tempting to just call out Apple Bloom right there but I did not want to scare the filly, well, not yet anyway.

I turned to face the window and watched the birds fly by, keeping my ears pinned as to track any more sounds made by the curious filly. Quite hoof-steps could be heard as the young mare edged herself closer and closer to me. Turning my head again, I could see that she had fully entered the room. The longer I waited, the closer she trotted. By the time she was just a meter away from where I was sat on the bed, I had come up with a plan to tackle-hug the unsuspecting crusader. I wasn't anticipating her next move though.

"Mah sis is real sorry 'bout what she did earlier. She didn't realize you were no monkey."

I winced when I remembered what had happened earlier, never before having felt such a pain. With my disguise busted, I abandoned my plan of glomping and wanted to know how they saw through my cover. The chimp idea was good enough for nearly every other pony I had came across, so why were the Apples any different? "So how'd you figure out I wasn't a monkey? Did you notice that I didn't have a tail, or was it the hairless face?"

"Naw, you were talking in your sleep. Monkeys can't talk."

"Hehe..." I nervously chuckled. I always talked in my sleep when I was a child, I guess going to Equestria must have brought it back up again. "What was I talking about?"

"Somethin' about Rainbow Dash. That's when we figured out you wasn't a monkey." (Heh, what can I say? I like Rainbow Dash) I grinned slightly in an attempt to alleviate the awkwardness of my current situation, but Apple Bloom just saw straight through it. "Don't worry mister," she said, "We won't tell nobody." Thank Celestia for that.

Rather than sitting there in the inelegant silence with the young filly, I asked her how long I had been out for, to which she told me nearly an hour. I went to reach for the phone in my pocket to check the time, but my trusty brick of a device couldn't be found. Starting to panic, I looked around the entire room while Apple Bloom just sat there and watched. That phone was my last physical memory from Earth, meaning it was something I didn't want to lose. Giving up after a frantic bout of searching, I sat back down on the bed and let out a sigh of defeat. The young mare must have caught on to what I was searching for, as she asked me a question.

"You lookin' for that flashy, beepy thing that was in yer pocket?"

"Flashy-beepy-thing? It flashed and made noises? Where is it?" How on Earth could that of happened...

The young filly got up and started to walk to the bedroom door before signalling for me to follow. I stood up and kept behind Apple Bloom as we made our way through the Apple family abode, going through one hallway after another while passing various rooms, eventually coming to find ourselves in the kitchen. I looked around and spotted the device on the kitchen table before rushing to pick it up and check the screen.

I had a text message.

Back in Ponyville, news of the human had reached a certain pink pony's ears after over-hearing two of her friends talking about what they had been up to over the past few days. As soon as she heard that he was in Equestria, Pinkie Pie did what naturally came to her - organise a welcome party.

Hiding in various hedges and bushes in an attempt to make her way back to Sugarcube Corner without getting spotted, the party pony found herself in her bedroom having finally made her way home. Opening up the secret door behind her closet, Pinkie Pie glanced over her secret supply. From Nightmare Night to Hearts and Hooves celebrations, there was everything you could have possibly needed to celebrate any event imaginable. A welcoming party was but a trot in the park for the party planner extraordinaire.

Packing all the required streamers and banners into her saddlebags, the sugar-fuelled mare bound her way downstairs to set up for the event. Within minutes the party had been set up. Balloons adorned the walls, streamers hung from every corner of the room, cake and other party foods had been set up for the occasion and to top it off a huge banner, stretching from one side of Sugarcube Corner to the other, had been hung across the ceiling with the words 'WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA!' adorned upon it.

Almost as if she knew someone was watching, Pinkie spoke aloud, "This is going to be the. best. party. EVER!", before darting off-screen to hand out invitations without giving the author a chance to follow. Damn these ponies and their ability to warp physics.

"Bye Rainbow Dash!" Twilight waved to her friend as she slowly made her way back down to solid ground. Landing on the ground with a light 'thump' as she put all of her weight onto her hooves, the librarian started to head off home to the library. Taking the short way back as to head through the Ponyville central park, Twilight had to go through several back-streets and alleyways, occasionally spotting what she thought was Alex only to dismiss the thought as he was still at the library, right?

Shaking her head for the umpteenth time after spotting what she thought was the human again, the purple mare was finally standing at the front of her home. Opening the door with magic, Twilight made her way inside to find the the library was empty and Spike was no-where to be seen.

"Spike? Are you home?" Twilight called out, unsure as to where her number one assistant could have gotten too.

"Umm... I'm out back..." Spike replied with an uncertain tone to his voice.

"Spike, is everything alright out there?" Dumping her saddle bags onto the living room couch, Twilight tentatively made her way through the kitchen and out to the back of the library. "Where's Alex? Gone out exploring?"

"Heh, you could say that..." Spike was standing in front of the flowerbed attempting to cover the horrific scene as much as possible, but the smell of the situation had gotten up Twilight's nose.

"Errgh, what is that smell? Has something happened to the melior venefi?" Gagging, the unicorn brought a hoof up to her nose and brushed Spike out of the way with magic. They say the resounding screams could be heard for miles.

"SPIKE! WHO THREW UP ALL OVER MY FLOWERS?!"

"It was... pancakes... Alex... eating contest..." Spike fumbled for words, shocked by Twilights reaction.

"I DON'T CARE WHO DONE IT, GET THEM CLEANED UP! AS FOR THAT HUMAN, I'LL DEAL WITH HIM LATER!" As the flames consisting of Twilight's mane subsided, she trotted off in a huff towards the back door of the library. Slamming the door shut with nearly enough force to rip it from the hinges, the infuriated unicorn prepared herself for her weekly meet-up with Applejack hoping that she could take her mind off her 'problem' with a few glasses of cider and a long chat. Ugh, I hope Applejack has kept a bottle or two behind from the market. Maybe I can black out and forget about that stupid ape...

Trotting through the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight took a deep breath in and savoured the crisp country air. Ponyville itself was very clean of pollution, but the lack of inhabitants and abundance of trees made Sweet Apple Acres all the more refreshing. Calmed by her surroundings, the unicorn made her way to the back of the barn house and to the entrance to the orchard to meet her equine friend.

"Hey Applejack!" The purple mare called out.

"Howdy Twilight, How've you been? Y'all look awfully rugged for wear, somethin' eatin' at ya?"

"Ugh," Twilight sighed, "I've been better. A stupid chimp in clothing decided to throw up all over my flower bed."

"Ya mean the one with yer prized concentration flowers? It amazes me how rude some folk can get now-days."

"Tell me about it." The two made their way inside and into the Apple family kitchen, where two glasses had already been set up along with a large jug of apple juice. Twilight sat down and peered at the jug, before asking for another drink. "You wouldn't happen to have anything stronger than apple juice, would you Applejack?"

Surprised by her friends request the cow-pony replied, "Well I'll be, Twi. I don't expect that sort of thing from ya."

"I want to forget about what's happened to my flowers and everything else that I've had to put up with over the past few days. You have no idea what I've been through..."