Between Two Worlds

This morning, the awakening was rather difficult for Ethan. Comfortably installed in the conductor seat of his Skyline, the human with grey hair was asleep, slightly snoring and with a bit of drool on the left side of his lips. Around him, everything was so peaceful. No car, no talking people, no sound except for the birds, whistling. The sky was light blue, with a few white clouds and no wind. The beautiful sun, like a big fire, was high in the air, almost at its peak.

Then, an unpleasant sound reached his ears. A knock on the window. Three times. The young Gray rolled on the other side, away from the origin of the sound. A few seconds later, he heard it again.

“Let me sleep.” He growled weakly and still half-asleep.

It knocked again on the turquoise window.

“You really don’t want to let people in peace or what?”

“Ethan, wake up! It’s almost noon!” pleaded Twilight.

Another growl escaped from his throat and he dared to open his eyes. Everything was bright, so bright that he had to close them again while a few tears appeared at their edge. Even with tinted windows, he could feel the warm ray of the sun on his body and warming the cockpit.

“Okay, okay! I’m up!”

He opened the door and did the same for his eyes, slowly. The purple unicorn was in front of him, looking slightly nervous. Behind her stood the white Alicorn, her violet eyes on him. Ethan sighed.

“Can I have, just, one day without you Princess?”

“Alas, no. You know why we are here. We have to hurry up, the citizens are waiting for us.”

“It’s already noon?”

“Yep.” replied Twilight.

He cursed between his teeth.

“Great. Give me a few seconds to drink something.” he extended his right arm to catch a water bottle before opening it and took two sips. “And let my brain wake up and I’m all yours after.”

He stood up and stretched his muscles. Some joints popped. The human yawned and exhaled loudly before blinking a few times. He shook his head to remove the last traces of sleep on his face.

“I’m completely awake now so, we can go.”

“Wait! What about your clothes? They’re dirty.”

“Well, I can replace them but…we’re going to be late so, it can wait.”

Celestia nodded. Her horn began to glow gold and the second after, the trio was not anymore on the field.

When Ethan blinked, he was in front of everypony who have come. A lot of them were surprised, shocked or slightly disgusted when they saw the human. It was totally understandable, for most of the Ponyville’s citizens, they never saw the human but only hear about him. They relaxed when they saw Celestia and all bowed.

“At ease my subjects, there’s no need to bow.”

Some of them hesitated but, in the end, they all complied. Ethan looked at the other two and they nodded. A sigh escaped his lips and began to talk.

"Sorry for the state of my clothes. I could have come in a tuxedo but I prefer to be natural." he lightly chuckled before taking a serious and guilty look. "If I'm here, in front of all of you, it's because I hurt the feelings of some ponies. They know why and how. I emotionally hurt those who were at my welcome party last night. For them, I'm sorry. I'm sorry because I let my emotions took the best of me. I didn't act like a guest would do, I ran away from the party because….because it reminded me of an old part of my life. Don’t expect me to explain me why, it’s not a good idea. But, I would especially apologize to the pony who made this party, Pinkie Pie."

Ethan looked at her, staring into her light blue eyes. He was really sad for screwing up her efforts to make him feel welcomed.

"To be honest, I really feel guilty for what I did. I hope you accept my excuses. If you still have a grief against me, I understand. I know you only wanted to put a smile on that ugly face of mine. But, for the sake of my mind, if I don't want to be haunted by nightmares, I need to know: Will you be my friend?"

The pink earth pony looked at him with a blank face before a big smile makes its appearance on her face.

"Of course, silly. I forgive you, it's what friends are for."

She jumped on the stage and hugged him. Surprised by the move, he couldn't do anything but return the hug. The others ponies cheered and smiled at this. Finally, they broke the hug and he turned his attention towards the mass of ponies.

"I would like to thank all of you for not freaking out when you saw me." A few chuckled could be heard among the ponies when he said this. "And for the warm welcome."

Then, they began to applaud. Celestia walked to him and whispered in his ear:

"And me who'd thought that you'll be shy for the speech, you have your way to make them comfortable."

"To tell you the truth, I hate speak in public like that but, I had to make an effort for them, they worth it."

"I'm glad you see us like that."

"Yeah, them. Not you Princess, I'm still mad at the fact you used my memories against me. You know this is a touchy topic. My mind is a sacred place that I cherish because it contains everything that I am. The day, you’ll understand the fact that I am sentient and intelligent –maybe not as you or you subjects- then maybe, and I say maybe, you could have my trust again."

She sighed.

"Don't you think that I don't feel guilty for that? I know that I didn't have to do it but, I did, for them. I could have convinced you with others arguments. I used your mentor against you because it was the simplest way to let you give them another chance."

The human looked into her violet eyes and saw that she means everything she said. She was right. Despite what she did, she was right. If it was someone else who tried to convince him, he would not listen to them. His old friend Cyril and his mentor were the only people who he listened and trusted with all of his heart. Then, he shooked his head and looked back at the citizens before smiling.

"As much I'll like to stay here, I have some things to do."

"Wait partner, ya don't ya can go like that! There's still a party waiting for ya!" said the hard-worker pony, interrupting him from getting away.

"YAY! Party!"

A blue and pink cannon appeared from the back of Pinkie. She hit it with her hoof and a lot of things escaped from the weapon. Balloons, confetti, tables, food and drinks. Ethan looked at her, dumfounded.

"B-b-but....how?"

"Don't try to understand, it's Pinkie Pie." answered Twilight, at his left side.

"O....kay."

Vinyl walked toward the party pony with a big, grey rectangular thing. Then, she stopped and pushed the red button on it. It deployed itself, revealing six little subwoofers and a big one.

"Vinyl, what is this?" asked the human, pointing at it.

"This? It’s my Bass Cannon!"

The DJ began to do her job, playing an electro song. The speakers vibrated strongly.

"This time, I'm out."

The sun Alicorn and the purple unicorn laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll be used to this with time."

Then, Ethan jumped out of the stage and in the middle of the inhabitants. He hoofshaked a lot of them while trying to memorize their name. Vinyl presented her room-mate to him, a grey Earth pony named Octavia. He remarked that, strangely, most of them were mares. He made a mental note to question Twilight about this. A mint-green Unicorn looked at him strangely and was oddly interested by his hands, whispering things about humans or something like that. He only saw two or three stallions, Big Mac included. The latter walked to him, a stern look on his green eyes, before he hugged the human, giving him some difficulties to breath correctly.

"Thank for savin' mah sister."

The distant attitude of the young Gray melted with that gesture. He liked and respected the big red stallion for being like him and for all the work he does to run the farm.

"If ya need everythin', don't hesitate to ask. Ah'll be more than happy to help ya."

"Nah." He broke the hug and waved a hand. "You don't owe me anything Mr. Macintosh. I'm glad that I was here to help."

He nodded.

"Ya should come at Sweet Apple Acres, to meet the rest of the Apple Family. And just call me Big Mac."

Ethan pondered. It could be rude of him to refuse the invitation but still, he had a lot of work to do. This car is not going to repair itself.

"I'm in. When would you want me to come?"

"Today, a little before the twilight, for dinner. Sounds good?"

"Sure, I'll be on time. See you later, Mac!"

Then, the human walked toward the tables with cakes, cupcakes, pies and drinks.

"Fooooooood!" he drooled, before eating everything which was reaching his hands.

The ponies around looked at him weirdly, before chuckling and began laughing.

“Oh my! Darling, what did you do to your clothes?” said Rarity, walking to him, panicked and interrupting him in his quest to fulfill his stomach.

He swallowed the content of his mouth before talking.

“It’s nothing Ms.Rarity, really.”

She pointed a hoof at a red circle on the lower part of his shirt.

“Nothing? Darling, I hope this is a joke. Look at the dirt, the grass, the sweat and the holes on it. This is THE.WORST.THING.I.EVER.SAW!”

The young Gray rolled his eyes.

“It’s only blood, it can go away if I wash the shirt. No big deal.”

“You must come at the Boutique, I insist. I can’t let you wear that ‘thing’ any longer.”

He remembered her offer and felt obliged to accept it this time. There was no way he could refuse because it could be rude if he did so, like for the evening at Apple Sweet Acres. He smiled and slightly bowed.

“Thank you Ms.Rarity. I appreciate your generosity.”

A blush appeared on her white cheeks.

“It’s nothing.”

Then, she walked off.

"So, what do you think of him, little sister?"

The Princess Of The Night, on the stage, in company of the Sun Goddess, looked at her.

"He seem interesting, we'd like to know him better. Can thou share his memories?"

Celestia shooked his head.

"No, Lulu, it doesn’t work like that. You have to let him open himself to you."

"But Tia, thou screwed up our chances to let him trust us."

"I know, just...give him some time and, I'm sure he'll want to talk to you." answered the white Alicorn, with a confident look on her face.

"We’ll try. And what do thou think of him?"

The older sister sighed.

"He's complex. He doesn’t want to be ruled by his feelings and only use his logic but, behind the wall, he cares about others. He can make you feel that he is cold and distant but it's quite the other way in his heart."

"...How do thou know all of this?"

"Body language my dear sister, body language." replied the white Alicorn.

“And….—“

“I cannot deny the fact that he is attractive but no, I’m not interested by him. At least, not now. So, you can have Ethan but…don’t prank him too often, even if it’s to show your affection. He could become irritable.”

Luna didn’t respond, merely nodding, with her teal eyes always on the human.

He smiled and he was happy. It had been a long time since he was happy. The ponies were very curious and open-minded, they asked him a lot of questions. Some were boring, others weird and sometimes, awkward. The fact that they were curious about his species does not surprise him. It was understandable. The most difficult thing to explain was the fact that he was omnivore and needed meat to survive. It was a part of his eating habit and if he didn’t eat meat, he would die from lack of protein. He made a pact with Fluttershy to have, once in a while, a chicken. Even if she did not like the fact that he eats meat, she understood it. Ethan promised to reduce his consumption but insisted on the fact that he couldn’t become vegetarian.

One hour passed and finally, most of the ponies left the party. The human talked a lot, he talked so much that his mouth was dry and he had to humidify it with everything drinkable he could found. In the end, only stayed the Mane Six and Vinyl. They all worked to clean and stow the material used for the party. Then, he said goodbye at Twilight and her friends before walking back to his temporary camp.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked a voice, interrupting him in his tracks.

He turned his head to the origin of the voice. He saw the white unicorn with her blue electric mane and her violet goggles looking at him, grinning.

“I have to work, why?”

“Don’t you remember that you promised to drop at my house to see my DJ equipment?”

“Uhh…yes.”

“So, you come?”

Ethan sighed. He completely forgot about this. That was bad. First, because he really have to repair the skyline. Second, he had to dinner with the Apple family and third, a bath was necessary if he wanted to be presentable to Big Mac and his family.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”