I followed the hot air balloon from a distance, until it landed, having caught up to the grey blur. As I came closer, I hid in a copse of nearby trees, and watched as four brightly colored creatures, vaguely resembling horses, pegasi, and unicorns, all of which I dubbed equinoids in my notebook, held down a grey pegasus with ropes, while a fifth unicorn equinoid approached the clearly angry creature. I wondered if I should intervene, but decided against it, because I had little knowledge of the situation.

As I watched, I became aware that the grey Pegasus was speaking. Even more astonishing, she – for her voice indicated that she was indeed feminine – was yelling in the Common tongue!

“lemme go! I don’t need you guys! Leave me Alone!”

The unicorn approached with a benevolent smile upon its face, its horn fluorescing. As the horn touched the head of the grey Pegasus, something, well … I'm not sure what happened, the body of the Pegasus turning a bright cyan color, and the hair, or, I supposed, mane, if I was going to continue with the whole equine analogy, turned several vibrant colors, forming a rainbow. Wait a second, this is a lot like what I imagined it would look like when a person was Turned, except there obviously weren't thirteen of them and I didn't see any Myrthaal, so it must not be evil, and it's probably a more simple process.

Incredible! It seems that these creatures are able to channel the One power like people in the legends could!

The other equinoids immediately loosened the ropes around the Pegasus, who, after sitting dazed for a few seconds, immediately began asking questions about “ponyville”, some “elements”, and someone named “discord” and if they had stopped him or not. The other five equinoids, which I became increasingly sure were all female, laughed and gathered around the rainbow one, who they called “Rainbow Dash”, and gave her an extremely girly looking group hug, at least until several things that must have been buffalo passed by doing ballet in pink tutus.

I decided that following these six mares would be a good idea if I wanted to see what was going on, and after recording information about Rainbow Dash in my notebook, I followed them, close enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough that they didn’t seem to notice me. The lavender colored one, whom I learned was called Twilight Sparkle when Rainbow Dash acted out what would happen when they confronted this Discord character, seemed to be the leader, a notion that was confirmed when the six picked up what seemed to be elaborate pieces of jewelry, with all of them being necklaces except for the tiara that Twilight wore.

As they progressed through the town, with me following, I was sure that the pink one, whose name I understood to be Pinkie Pie, saw me at least once, but she raised no alarm. I learned that the orange one’s name was Applejack, and the white one’s name was Rarity. The butter yellow Pegasus rarely spoke, but when the others talked to her, they referred to her as Fluttershy.

We seemed to be approaching our destination, as the six stopped and huddled together, apparently making a plan that I hoped didn’t involve the pink one exposing me. They finished whatever they were doing, and continued on. After dodging some falling pies, I followed them. As I followed them around a corner, I looked ahead and was shocked to see the strange silhouette from my dream, although he was most definitely no longer just a silhouette. A disgusting mishmash of a dozen creatures sat upon a throne, laughing. The look of this thing made me think that it could only have been created through Shai'tan himself, the Dark One, reaching out and pulling several creatures apart, then mashing them back together. Most people no longer believed in the Dark One, but looking at this creature, and the corruption that seemed to exhude off of him, well, I imagined this is what it would feel like to stand in the presence of one of the Forsaken. I stared at the creature, wondering what use he could possibly have for me, and why he brought me here.

I felt something poking my side. I looked down, and was astonished to see the one named Pinkie pie looking up at me. I was so astonished in fact, that I actually slipped out of the void.

“Umm….”

I was honestly at a loss here. I hadn’t planned for first real contact with these creatures for at least a few days.

The pink one smiled up at me, opened her mouth, and said, “Ponies.”

What?

She giggled. “We’re called ponies. Anyway, you should hide. Things are about to get kinda explodey - magical friendship zapper type stuff.”

“Ok … Thanks, I guess.”

I stood there, dumbfounded, as she smiled and nodded, and then ran to catch up with her friends. Only when the creature, who I assumed was Discord, began to laugh, did I hide behind a nearby bush. I watched as the six … ponies … confronted the thing, taking notes in my notebook as the jewelry they wore began to glow. Perhaps they were some sort of magical artifact, like an Angreal from the ancient legends?

The six pieces of jewelry flashed, and suddenly erupted into a brilliant rainbow that extended upwards and crashed down upon the creature, turning him to stone.

Ok, these were way more serious than Angreal, they were more comparable to the Ter’angreal keys to the Sa'Angreal called the Choedan Kal, wich held massive stores of magical power inside of them.

The rainbow above me split, forming a dome around the chaotic town.

Ohh, this was bad. Really bad. If whatever spell they cast perceives me as a threat, I’m done for. Ohh, burn me, but this is bad. I tried to think happy thoughts as the dome sealed itself around the town. There was a bright flash, so bright that my eyes burned even after I closed my eyelids, and then silence. I slowly opened my eyes. I was still behind the bush.

Hopefully, that’s a good thing.

I peeked out, and saw that the town, once in chaos, was now almost normal, if you ignored the fact that it looked like it had appeared right out of a fairy-tale storybook. The sun was in an afternoon position, maybe two or three o’clock. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I’m still here. More of the pony creatures slowly emerged from the houses, looking around as if making sure the area was safe.

I sighed, realizing that it would probably be a while before I could leave this bush, and made myself comfortable. Pulling out my notebook and several pencils, I began to listen to conversations that were starting up around me. Apparently, the six mares I had been following were the “elements of harmony,” and many ponies were thanking “Celestia” that they were able to stop the strange creature.

Who was this Celestia person? The way they used the name, it seemed like he or she was some sort of god. Interesting.

I continued to listen, until I heard the sound of trumpets, and saw several large chariots descending from the sky. Most held several identical white unicorn and normal ponies with blue manes in gold armor reminiscent of roman centurions. Many pegasi in similar armor, but with holes for wings, flew around the chariots, as well as pulling them.

As the chariots came in for a landing, the ponies in the street, which had now become a sizeable crowd, parted, and allowed them to land safely in front of Twilight and her companions.

From the largest of the chariots stepped two creatures that were slightly different from the others. They were larger, wore jewelry and crowns, had both wings and horns, both of which were much larger than those of either the pegasi or the unicorns, even proportionally, and everyone bowed to them. Using my amazing powers of deduction, I figured that these two must be royalty.

This suspicion was confirmed when Twilight ran up to them and bowed, calling the white one princess Celestia, and the blue one princess Luna. Well, that solves the mystery of who Celestia is. Most of the armored stallions, who I learned were royal guards through the whispers of those close to my hiding place, helped to load Discord onto the now empty large chariot, and take it away. Those remaining took up posts around the area the princesses were in, and I noted that from where they stood, they could see every street in town, allowing them to see any threat to their leaders long before it reached them.

After some conversation that I couldn’t hear between Sparkle and the princess, Pinkie pulled what appeared to be a small cannon from her mane. Seemingly ignorant of the strange looks that told me that this was out of the ordinary even for this world, she aimed it straight up in the air, and fired it.

Confetti. Confetti and streamers everywhere.

Not to mention the tables filled with pastries and the party games that appeared around the area.

I realized just how nervous the pink one makes me, because I couldn’t explain her, and from the way her friends were treating this occurrence, I doubted I ever would be able to explain her. I felt something fall in my lap. Looking down, I saw a piece of key lime pie and a fork on a plate.

I looked up and out of the bush again, to see Pinkie looking directly at me and smiling. Even knowing she couldn’t see me, I waved my thanks to her.

She waved back.

I was really scared now.

I watched as she walked over to the blue princess, Luna if I remember right from before, and pulled her off to the side. I was worried about what she was going to say, but I realized I couldn’t do anything about it now, so it was best to just let it go. I looked down at the pie, and sighed, wishing I had a milkshake to go with it. A rustling in the bush next to me caught my attention, just for me to see a pink hoof stick out of the bush, strawberry milkshake balanced on top. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I took the shake and whispered my thanks to the bush as the hoof disappeared back into it.

After eating the pie and drinking the shake, both of which were excellent, I was feeling rather full, and, making sure that I couldn’t be seen, I slipped back into the void and laid back against my backpack and fell asleep.

…

After a thankfully dreamless nap, I woke up to a distinct lack of noise. Looking out of the bush, I saw that the party was finished, and night had fallen. Looking around carefully, I climbed out of the bush. Looking down, I saw that my pants and shirt were covered in leaves and dirt. After brushing them off, I looked forward again.

Princess Luna was there.

Right in front of me.

Letting out what was most certainly not the most girly scream in the history of this world I was now stuck in, I dived back into the bush, only to be lifted out and dangled by my ankles in front of the Princess.

Feeling quite unhappy with the situation, I felt it quite within my rights to yell, “Why would you do that? What could possibly make you think that startling an unknown being is a good idea?”

The dark princess, with a smug smile on her face, stated sarcastically, “Oops.”

I frowned, already disliking this one’s sense of humor. “Could you please put me down, my head is starting to hurt.”

She dropped me.

Getting up, I grumbled, “Well, now my head definitely hurts.”

Luna chuckled, replying, “We apologize, but even with miss Pinkamina’s insistence that thou art quite harmless, we believed it our duty to see thy reaction when surprised or hurt, to make sure that thou wouldst not be a threat to us or our land.”

I sighed, “Well, that’s understandable, but you could probably have just observed or asked me. Miss Pinkamena, that would be … Pinkie, the one who gave me pie and has completely unexplainable powers, yes?”

Luna smiled, “That would be correct, her full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Suddenly, I realized who I was talking to, and thought about what I had discovered so far.

The sun and moon are moved by someone down here, because when that Discord creature was turned to stone, they stopped freaking out and changing every few minutes.

This alicorn in front of me had a mane that was made up of the night sky, as I had just notice, and it was rather beautiful.

She gave off the vibe of being exceptionally powerful, and she had a necklace, not unlike the necklaces the mares from before had, that had a crescent moon emblazoned upon it.

Her name was Princess Luna.

Luna.

Lunar.

Moon.

Oh burn me.

My eyes widened as I realized I had been sitting there staring at what amounted to a deity for several minutes.

“Oh! Um, my apologies, princess, it didn’t really register that I’m talking to royalty until just now. Sorry!” I blabbered out while bowing repeatedly, hoping to whatever Gods exist in this … realm? Dimension? … nonono, focus, really powerful ruler standing in front of you right now.

Luna smiled, “Be calm, young one, you did no wrong, in fact, we would ask that you do not bow to us, for you are not as of yet truly our subject.”

I stammered out a reply, “But if my assumptions are correct, you can move the moon, meaning you’re practically a goddess, and should be shown respect not only by your subjects, but also by any creature that lives under the light of your moon.”

Flatter. Flatter for all you’re worth, and hope she likes you.

Luna smiled sadly, “Yes, but even a Goddess may long for friends.”

My heart went out to this creature, as well as my confusion. Did she want me to be a friend or a subject? Or both? I couldn’t quite figure her out.

“Well, perhaps it’s best if we start over, then. Hello, princess Luna, My name is Jason.”

She smiled. Oh thank goodness she smiled I’m not gonna get thrown in prison and dissected. “We would like that. As thou already know, Jason, our name is Luna. It is good to meet you. However, we must ask, what are you? We have not seen a creature like you in all our years upon this land.”

I grinned a little at that, “Well, I wouldn’t expect you to have. You could say that I’m not exactly from here. The big guy that got stoned earlier today brought me here, I think, my dreams somehow.”

Luna frowned. “This is troublesome. He seeks to interrupt the Pattern of Ages. Tell me as much as you can about these dreams.”

Setting aside her mention of the pattern for later, I told her, in as much detail as possible, about my dream and the events afterwards.

After my explanation, she nodded, and looked me in the eye. “We must leave soon, but rest assured, thou art welcome here.”

I sighed, and replied, “I don’t know, princess, I mean, you were suspicious of me even after Pinkamena or Pinkie or whatever she’s called told you I’m harmless, and she seems to be a rather prominent and influential member of the community. Also, the ponies here just dealt with one strange creature, and I don’t want to be associated in any way with Discord by the general public, because it seems to me that that would be pretty bad, even if the association is just in passing. So, if I could, I’d like to ask you for a couple of things. Could you direct me to a place to stay that isn’t too close to this place, but is within an hour’s walk or so? And could you not tell ponies about me yet, I don’t want them getting the wrong idea about me and Discord.”

Luna nodded. “We see your point. Fear not, Jason, for none of the residents of this land, besides Pinkie Pie, will know of your existence until you are ready. We must inform our sister, princess Celestia, of your existence, though. We hope that you understand.”

I suppose that’s reasonable. “Of course, princess, I wouldn’t want to cause a political incident between you two.”

She smiled. “How considerate of you. As for your lodgings…”

She sat for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she grinned. “We have the perfect place for you to stay, where none of our subjects will wander and risk you being found. It is a ways into the Everfree forest to the south, though, and to make it there in a timely manner, We shall fly you. Climb up upon our back, in front of our wings, but behind our shoulders.”

“Are you sure, princess? That seems a little disrespectful, and I don’t want to be rude.” I said, frowning.

“Worry not, little one, for there are none around to see. Now, climb up, and we shall depart to the location of the remainder of thy belongings, before continuing to thy new home.”

I nodded, climbing up, and holding on as Luna spread her wings and, with a running start, jumped up into the air, clearly not used to having a heavy passenger, but obviously able to easily handle my weight. I was a bit nervous about flying, at first, but once in the air, I enjoyed it immensely. After a quick stop to get my stuff, which the princess lifted in her magic, mattress and all, we turned south and flew out over the forest.

As we flew, she told me of the dangers of the Everfree and how to avoid them. She also told me a bit about my new home. Apparently, she’s really old, and it used to be her home, before something, she wouldn’t tell me what, happened, and it was abandoned for Canterlot, the city I had seen on the mountain. Apparently it isn’t actually hanging off the mountain, but is based upon a large, clear crystal that juts out of the mountain, and is a truly staggering size.

We finally landed in the ruins of an old castle. I was about to tell her that this place was uninhabitable, but she motioned for me to follow. We walked through the castle grounds, large stone pillars, remnants of an ancient glory, now long gone, dotted the courtyard. We came to one of the most intact of the towers, and went inside. The area was roomy, and I believed that this was where she had meant for me to stay, until she turned and went down a flight of steps off to the side. We stopped outside of a large door made of some sort of stone, with what used to be a moon engraved upon the door, but it seemed that most of the engraving had fallen out, leaving only a crescent.

I found out that this was not the case, however, when Luna summoned the remaining piece of the engraving, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to me. It fit nicely in the palm of my hand, and had a hole at the top that made it seem as if it could be fashioned into a necklace for safekeeping. “This is the key to this door and the rooms behind it. It was once the barracks and armory for our Lunar Guards, and a preservation spell has been cast on all within, as they were a rather rowdy bunch, and tended to break things. However, the spell should have done just as well to keep all within from rotting. Now, open the door.”

I placed the small stone into its slot, and pushed. A small click sounded, and the moon engraving seemed to shine with its own light, glowing as the door swung inward. I followed Luna into the room, looking around. It was fairly spacious, and actually big enough that I didn’t have to crouch, which surprised me. Then again, I’m sure this whole castle had been made with the comfort of the princesses in mind, and I was only a little taller than Luna, being a few inches shy of six feet, while she was about five and a half.

The area was large, with comfortable looking rugs arranged around what appeared to be a fireplace, with wood stacked beside it, along with other tools for starting and tending to a fire. Cots lined the walls not occupied by the fireplace, and halls on either side of the fireplace leading to other rooms, one of which appeared to have more cots for sleeping, the other leading to what I could only assume was the armory. Luna levitated my mattress and blanket filled with books and stuff inside, and pulled the key out of the door, handing it to me as the door closed. There was a lever to the right of the door that I hoped would allow the door to open when I pulled it.

“This shall be your home until you reveal yourself to the residents of ponyville. Past the armory is the kitchen, which should still be stocked with food, it being under the same preservation spell as the rest of the rooms. Past the other sleeping quarters is the captain’s office, in there is a candle that, when lit, will burn green. Any paper or parchment burnt in this fire will be immediately transported to me. Beware, as the flame will still burn thee. If you venture into the Everfree, remember that there are dangers there you cannot face unarmed.”

With a flash, the lunar monarch teleported, probably back home to tell her sister about me. Feeling a bit cold, I set about lighting a fire, which went surprisingly well with just some flint and steel things to make sparks, then, standing up, I set off to explore the rest of my new home.

Author's Note

Crossover tag doesn't factor in quite yet, but I promise, it'll be here eventually.
HEY GUYS, I REDID THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY. IF YOU DON'T REREAD THE FIRST FEW PARAGRAPHS OF THE THING, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A BAD TIME.