Chapters The red pony began to stir as he awoke from his deep slumber. He sat up and began rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he started reaching around to get familiar with his surroundings. "I don't remember sleeping on the couch" said the young stallion as he reached for the covers. He let out a sign as his hooves found nothing but couch. "Great I slept walk down here without my covers" he said as turned over to see if it was on the floor. The floor was cold to the touch and the covers were nowhere to be found but he noticed something else. The floor was made of wood paneling. "Must have passed out at my friends house before I walked home."
The sounds of hoof steps echoed around the room as the stallion layed back down. "Guess my friend is up making food...i hope he makes pancakes cause I'm starving" thought the stallion got comfortable again. By how much sun was filtering in thru his eye lids he guessed it had to be around lunch time. "I need to get up so i can head home and sleep in my own bed...actually...i don't think it would hurt anything for me to sleep a FEW more minutes." he murmured to himself as he turned over and tried to go back to sleep since he had already started to warm up without the covers.
"Looks like somepony decided to wake up finally." said a voice from behind him. "Yeah, we thought you were going to end up sleeping the entire day" said another voice. The young stallion rubbed his eyes and sat up with an annoyed look on his face. He knew he had heard that voice somewhere before and he was trying to remember where. "I guess my friend turned on the tv or something" he thought
"What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream or something?” said the female voice. "Probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed" said the male voice giggling with laughter. "Cut it out spike that's not funny" said the female voice. The red pony's eyes snapped open and strained to see the figures talking to him. The light from outside blinded him forcing his eyes closed again as tears started to run down his cheek.
"Spike, And...Twilight?" said the stallion with that look of annoyance still on his face. He finally opened his eyes and began to stare at Twilight and Spike as they stood staring back at him. A smile formed on the stallions face as his vision started to clear. "Oh I see I'm still asleep" he began looking around the room. "Really realistic dream though." he said as his eyes once again landed on twilight and spike. Both had expressions of confusion and staring at each other.
"Ok then...I'm not an expert, although i have read a lot of books about dreams, but i don't think this is a dream since your eyes are open and you’re talking to us" said Twilight as she tilted her head to the side. The red stallion’s eyes widened "No… no this has to be a dream". He looked worryingly towards Spike and Twilight.
"Well I have no clue where you came from but last night I got up to get me some water and you were on my couch sound asleep, we thought you were a robber or something but we couldn't get you to wake up to ask you any questions so i had Owlicious watch you until we woke up" said Twilight motioning to herself and Spike as she stepped closer to him. Owlicious hooted and flew behind Twilight to his stand to get some sleep.
"T...This can't be real, it HAS to be a dream" the pony said before jumping off the couch. As he landed his feet slid out from under him causing him to slam into the floor with a loud bang. "ow" groaned the pony as he tried to get his feet back under himself "it does feel like it's real" he said to himself as he looked at the bruise on his leg. "Careful you're going to hurt yourself" said Twilight as she edged closer with growing concern.
The red stallion got up onto his hooves finally, though he was struggling to keep his feet from flying out from under him again. After a few seconds of fighting against even he eventually found his footing and quickly turned around and began to run. He looked over his shoulder to see if they were going to follow and that's when he slammed into the bookshelf at full speed.
Twilight walked up to the pony now passed out under a small pile of books. "Ugh what a stupid pony...Spike can you clean this up while I go get Apple Jack and Rarity to help me with him" she motioned at the stunned pony as she walked out of the library. "Got it but what do I do with him?" said spike as he started pickup up books, "Let me put a sleeping spell on him so he doesn't wake up until we are ready to deal with him." said Twilight as her horn began to glow.
The red pony levitated out from under the books and back onto the couch and was instantly in a deep sleep. "There now ill be back in a little bit but keep an eye on him just in case, okay?" she said as she shut the door. Spike sighed and started pick up the mess, "Why do I always get stuck with the messes she helps make."
The stallion began to awake from his sleep. His head still throbbed and now his legs hurt. He tried to move them thinking they were asleep but the more he moved the more the pain increased. He could feel the cold from the floor seeping into his body as he opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was that the room was lit using a fancy looking lamp sitting on a table nearby. Must be after dark, so I've been out for awhile he thought. Looking down he saw that Applejack was holding him down by his back legs while Rarity was using her magic to hold down his front ones.
"What’s going on? Why are you doing this to me" he said as he looked around. They all faced him as the sound of his voice rang out in the silent library. "Well if somepony didn't go freaking out and wrecking my library i wouldn't have to restrain him to ask him some questions, now would I?" said Twilight as she walked up and loomed over him.
"sorry" he muttered as he turned and looked away. A figure at the top of a nearby staircase caught his eye. He knew exactly who the figure was and a smile formed on his face but quickly forced it away. "Can i get up? i promise i won’t go running into anymore book shelf’s." he said turning and smiling at Twilight. Twilight motioned for Rarity and Applejack to let him go.
"Alright but if you go running off ill have them restrain you again." said Twilight as Rarity's horn stopped glowing and Applejack realized him. He slowly sat up and began rubbing his hooves together "why did you have to be so ruff i wasn't going to hurt anyone" he said looking at his bruised legs. "somepony" corrected Twilight as she walked over behind Rarity and Applejack.
"Oh ya forgot about that, sorry" He stood up and stretched his legs. He glanced back up the stairs and saw that the black filly was now staring at him with great interest and a little closer to the top of the staircase. He looked back at Twilight and her friends and judged the distance between him and them. They had all turned around and were talking about what to do next.
He quickly turned around and ran up the stairs, Twilight and her friends heard the noise and turned around just in time to see the stallion pick up the black filly in his arms. "aww your so much cuter in person!" said the stallion hugging the filly close to himself. "Put..her..down!" Said Twilight thru gritted teeth as her horn began to glow. Applejack and Rarity backed away from Twilight "uh oh" said Applejack as she stared at the pony holding Nyx.
Before the stallion knew what hit him he was in the air and heading straight for a nearby window. The window shattered as he flew thru it and into the street below. He landed on his stomach with a thud, and quickly sat up gasping for air and rubbing his head. "ow....all i ....was doing was giving.....her a hug" he said sadly as he stood up and walked back towards the door as his breathing began to return to normal.
As he reached for the door it flew open suddenly and there standing in the doorway was Twilight, her horn still was glowing and Nyx was behind her. "Don't you dare touch her again! Next time I'll throw you out of something higher." she said glaring at him. "I'm sorry she is just one of my favorite ponies." said the stallion now sitting a few feet away from the door. A small group had formed to see what the commotion was all about.
Applejack pushed her way past Twilight and started to march towards the stallion. "Favorite pony? what do you mean favorite pony?" she said poking at the stallion with her hoof. The stallion looked around not knowing what to say in return. "I'm sorry, I'm not really thinking straight i went to bed last night in my world and today i wake up here in equestria."
Applejack looked confused at the pony as he lowered his head. A chestnut stallion with a brown mane had pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "What do you mean 'your world'? Are you saying your not from Gaia?" the chestnut stallion asked as he walked closer. "No i come from a planet called earth but i don't think anyone...I'm mean anypony, knows what I'm taking about" he said lifting his head up at the voice.
He looked around at the crowed to see that they all were staring at him with the same expression except the chestnut stallion who had a smile on his face. "So I’m guessing you were human then?" he said as he walked up to the sitting stallion in the middle of the crowd. The stallion's ears perked up with surprise and he quickly looked up and began realizing just who the stranger was.
"Your the doctor, aren't you?" he said looking at the pony standing before him with awe. "Yep that would be me...but how did you know that? and what should i call you?" said the doctor as he walked around the pony. "Well i know you from stories I've read and everyone I know on earth just calls me 'Hoss' so i guess that would work fine here" said Hoss as he watched the doctor pace around him.
Twilight was now standing at the front of the crowed along with her friends who all were curious to what was happening. "Doctor is he from a different universe?" asked Twilight as she shut the door with Nyx still inside the library. "Not just a different universe but a different dimension, but yes, I do believe so since this dimension has ponies in place of humans like in the dimension he is explaining" said looking around to see if anyone understood him.
"wibbly wobbly timey wimey" said Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down. "Exactly!" said the doctor as he pulled his sonic screw driver out and started to scan Hoss. "So how did i get here then? All i remember is going to sleep in my bed then waking up here" said Hoss as he watched the doctor. "Don't forget running into my bookshelf and knocking all those books off, your going to have to pay for the damage done to those." said Twilight looking angrily at Hoss.
"alright...um...Hoss was it?" said the doctor to which Hoss nodded yes to. "ah yes, anyway, I think we should all go into the library and have a nice little chat" said the doctor motioning at Twilight and her friends. "That's fine with me as long as Twilight doesn't throw me out anymore windows" Grunted Hoss as he looked at the window he flew out off earlier. Twilight and her friends walked into the library one after the other as the Doctor and Hoss followed. The Doctor was the last to enter and shut the door and used his sonic screwdriver to lock it.
Nyx is from the story Past Sins created by Pen Stroke
Hoss turned around at the sound of the door locking and looked at the doctor with concern. "Don't worry that's so we don't have to deal with unwanted guests until we're done." the doctor said putting his sonic screwdriver back into his coat pocket and walking over to where Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were sitting. Hoss looked back at the group, then back at the door before walking over and sitting in front of the small group all staring at him with questioning eyes.
Hoss let out a sign and began "alright I can't really explain this alone" he said looking at the doctor who nodded and proceeded to lift himself up and walk over to Hoss. "ok so doctor care to help me explain to them what happened last night?" said Hoss motioning at the mare's sitting a few feet away. The doctor shook his head "if your from the dimension i think you are then you should be capable of explaining this yourself."
Hoss looked at the doctor then back to the group. "i guess i can try." he said with a shrug. "Alright so what i believe happened is a dimensional rift opened between my room and here." he said motioning at the couch. "That still doesn't explain how you know our names or how you know the doctor, sugercube." said Applejack. "Well in my dimension you all are in TV shows, the doctor is from a show called Doctor Who, while you four are from a show called My Little Pony." Hoss said motioning at everyone as he mentioned them.
"what the hay is a TV?" asked Rainbow Dash as she hovered inches off the ground. "TV stands for Television which is a system for transmitting visual images and sound that are reproduced on screens, chiefly used to broadcast programs for entertainment." the doctor said to the group who were still confused.
Hoss rolled his eyes "always over explaining things doctor" he looked at the group "Is there a movie theater here in Ponyville?" he said as he walked over to the window and looked out. The crowed that was outside had vanished and the streets were once again quite. "Yes there is a movie theater here but i don't see how that has anything to do with what your explaining." said Twilight. "It has everything to do with it, a TV is like a mini theater that fits in your home and instead of just one movie playing there are hundreds of them." he said as he walked back over to the group.
"gah, im getting off track again, anyway I've watched these TV shows a lot and that's where I've seen the doctor and you four." he said looking around. "why do you keep looking around as if you expect something to jump out at you." said Twilight as she watched Hoss look around the room. "I am" he said looking back at Twilight
"Haven't you noticed Pinkie Pie hasn't shown up yet? Meaning she is going to show up eventually and want to throw me a welcome-to-equestria-party or something and i want to be ready." he said as he began looking around again. "uh huh" said Twilight as she rolled her eyes and looked at the doctor. "so how do we get him back to his dimension?" "well, I could take him in the TARDIS but i need to let these dimensional rifts heal before i open another one to take him back."
the doctor said as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the air around the couch. "why can't you take him back now? what harm will that do to the rifts?" said Rainbow Dash as she started to slowly fly up behind Hoss. Twilight rolled her eyes as she realized what she was about to do. "If i open another rift it may cause the other rifts to grow in size or multiply and we will have even more problems.
Rainbow dash reached her hooves out to tap the stallion who was still looking out the window. Hoss quickly turned around and made Rainbow Dash fall to the floor in shock. "nice try but i could hear your wings flapping" Hoss said thru a smile. Everyone turned at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Hoss continued to smile as the knocking stopped. "looks like Pinkie is here" he said as he started up the stairs towards the broken window.
Just as he reached the top of the stairs a pink mare jumped in thru the window and rolled around on the floor till she was behind Twilight's bed. "Hi Pinkie Pie" said Hoss as he walked over to the bed. "Woah your good, wait how did you know i was here? Do you have the Pinkie sense to? well no that's silly only i have the Pinkie sense since im Pinkie." she said bouncing around Hoss.
"I just knew you would show up eventually, so whens my party?" asked Hoss trying to keep up with Pinkie as she bounced down the stairs. "I see you have already met our strange visitor" said Twilight as she watched Pinkie bounce down the stairs as Hoss quickly followed. "Hey that's not nice, Pinkie isn't strange, she's just random" said Hoss as he looked at Twilight. "I was talking about you" she said as she rolled her eyes again.
"I like him, he doesn't freak out like most of the new ponies i welcome." Pinkie said as she came to a stop next to her friends. Hoss looked at the group of friends "Where is Fluttershy? I would like to explain this only once." he said as he sat down again. "I'm here" said a small voice from a hallway behind the group. Hoss smiled "can you hear me alright back there or do you want to come out and join your friends?" "I can hear you fine, please continue, but only if you to." said the voice again.
"Alright so now that everyone..i mean everypony is here I can answer questions since i have no clue where to start explaining." said Hoss as he looked at the group sitting before him. "i guess ill go first" said the doctor as he stood up and walked a little closer to Hoss. "so Hoss do you have an idea of how you got here?" Hoss looked at the floor then back at the doctor.
"well i think something caused a dimensional rift to open here and where my bed is located in my dimension, I'm surprised i was the only thing to come thru since i was laying on my bed when it happened." The doctor looked surprised at his answer. "I have to thank you for that bit of info since i did get it from your show" confessed Hoss.
"Alright so what do you know about us" Twilight said motioning to the rest of the group. "Well i don't know where to start, there is so much that i know" Hoss said looking away embarrassed. "ok then how about how we got our cutie marks?" said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. She leaned over to Applejack and whispered something that Hoss couldn't hear. Both of the mare's burst out laughing and holding their sides. "ok, I'll start with Rainbow Dash since she helped everyone gain their cutie marks in some shape or form" Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and was now looking at him.
"Ok, Fluttershy was being bullied by two cults and you stepped in, they challenged you to a race in which you won by using the Sonic Rainboom which is how you got your cutie mark. Fluttershy falls off of Cloudsdale as you three take off, since she couldn't fly at the time she continued to fall until a group of butterflies caught her and brought her to safety. The Sonic Rainboom happens, frightening all the animals to which she calms them down, giving her her cutie mark." Hoss inhaled deeply and began again.
"Next comes Rarity you were put in charge of costumes for your school play and wanted them to be spectacular, As you were designing the costumes your horn began to glow and pull you to a rocky area outside of town, She began to yell at her horn until the Sonic Rainboom happened and split open a rock in front of you to reveal the gems inside. Pinkie Pie lived on a rock farm with her family where there was no smiling or laughter, The Sonic Rainboom happened and blew her straight hair into a poofy mess and made her want to keep smiling forever after seeing the massive rainbow, So she set up a party for her family and made them all smile and happy and that's when she got her cutie mark." Hoss inhaled again and once more began
"ok now Applejack you left Sweet Apple Acres for Manehatten to live a glamorous life with your Aunt and Uncle Orange, but you quickly began to realize that the glamorous life wasn't all it was cracked up to be, you saw the Sonic Rainboom over Ponyville and decided you needed to return home, when you did that's when you gained your cutie mark. And finally Twilight, Celestia's star pupil, You were to stressed out to open Spike's egg properly, The Sonic Rainboom happened allowing you to crack open his egg correctly, But you lost control of the power making spike into a giant and turning both your parents into bushes, Celestia appeared and fixed everything then agreed to personally teach you and that's when your cutie mark appeared." Hoss inhaled and exhaled.
"did i miss anything?" He said looking up at the stunned group. "but i only told that story to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom." said Twilight as she starred at Hoss. "Big deal he must have asked them earlier." said Rainbow Dash as she looked at the others. "That's the thing Rainbow, he's been here all day" Rainbow Dash looked back at Hoss wide eyed.
"Alright now that you believe me what do we do next?" The doctor looked away from Hoss and out the window. "I would take you home now but my TARDIS might create more dimensional rifts, and we can't have that cause next time it may not be a harmless red pony that pops out." "Hey that's not nice" said Hoss as he smirked. "I guess tomorrow ill go wonder around Ponyville and have a look around."
Hoss had begun to walk to the couch when Twilight stepped in front of him. "oh no, your not going anywhere, tomorrow your going to help Spike fix that shelf you destroyed." Hoss looked at the bookshelf, all the shelfs had been broken and books were stacked next to it. "Ok it shouldn't take that long." he said as he climbed up on the couch. He layed there and watched Fluttershy dart out from the hall way and up to her friends. They talked amongst themselves and said goodbye to each other.
Fluttershy was the first to leave, then Rainbow dash and Rarity, Pinkie had gone back up stairs and jumped out the smashed window she came thru, Applejack walked with Twilight to the door. "do you think we can trust him Twilight?" said Applejack who was standing in the doorway. "I can still hear you." said Hoss as he rolled over to look at them. Applejack blushed and backed out the door quickly "Night Twilight"
Twilight used her magic to shut the door and walked back up stairs. Hoss blinked as the darkness flooded over him, she had used her magic to turn off the lights as she climbed into bed. Hoss sat up and walked to the window, He sat there staring out into the darkness for a couple minutes before looking up at the stars. "What a beautiful night, Luna really does do a great job creating the night sky" He said as he looked out the window and yawned. He slowly drifted off to sleep as he sat there near the window.
Hoss woke to see that the sky was a purple hue and the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. He stood up and stretched, his muscles were stiff from sleeping sitting up like he had, he walked over to the door as quiet as the old wooden floor would allow and headed outside, the air outside was cool and the only sounds were the distant call of birds and the gentle breeze blowing thru the library's branches, He walked out into the street and looked around at the still sleeping town. "i like it here, its so peaceful" he said with a smile before looked up at the small amount of stars that still lingered.
He yawned and turned back to the library, he wanted to stay outside for a little longer and enjoy the peaceful morning before he started on the shelfs. "I don't think it would be to wise to wake up Twilight this early anyway" he thought as he sat down on one of the library's large roots that rose up out of the ground. He had begun to node off again when the door to the library opened, he shook his head to clear the sleep that had crept into his mind again and looked around the side of the library.
Twilight was standing on the door step looking around, her hair was still in a mess meaning she had just woken up. Hoss stood up and walked over to her. "I'm sorry if i woke you up i was just coming out here to watch the sun rise." he said looking at Twilight. "no you didn't wake me up, I was about.....to start combing my hair when i saw you walk out the front door, I thought......you might be trying to get out of working so I.....I followed you" she said through a series of yawns.
Hoss smiled a bit "nah i planned to help you I just needed to stretch my legs a bit before i started on the bookshelf I broke and the window I got thrown out of" He said looking at the window again with a grin on his face. Twilight looked up at the window "heh sorry I may have over done it a little." "Don't worry about it, it's not like I didn't deserve it, I shouldn't have grabbed Nyx like i did." he said looking back at Twilight. Twilight glanced back at him and turned towards the door. "I forgive you, just make sure it doesn't happen again." she said as she opened the door and went inside.
The sun was now above the horizon, casting long shadows from the nearby buildings and making him squint when he turned to look. He could feel the warm sunlight penetrate his coat and make the skin underneath warm. He looked up again to see that all the stars had now vanished and the sky's purple hue was replaced with light blue, he could see a few Pegasi were moving several clouds into place above the town. He let out one final yawn before turning and walking into the library.
"Twilight do you have any tools that i could use for the bookshelf?" He said as he walked over to the destroyed bookcase. None of the shelf's themselves were damaged but the metal pieces that held them onto the supports had snapped off. "There are some nails and other stuff down in the basement." she said from the kitchen. The smell of fresh oatmeal filled the house making his mouth water. Turning away from the bookshelf he began looking around the library for a basement door, there were two doors on this floor, One leading to the kitchen and the other was under the staircase leading up to Twilight's room.
He walked over and carefully opened it not knowing what to expect, as the door opened light flooded into the dark staircase and lite only a few of the steps, His mind betrayed him and he started to remember the horror movies he used to watch late at night and how the first person to enter the dark and scary basement was never seen or heard from again. He also remembered some of the grim/dark fanfictions and pictures he had seen and read before he arrived here, He quickly shook those thoughts away before he started seeing stuff in the darkness to and jumping at every small noise.
"um, Twilight? Where is the light switch?" "bottom of the stairs on the left wall" Her voice was barley audible over the sound of dishes and plates being moved around, he gulped and began to walk down into the basement trying his hardest not to picture things staring back at him from the darkness. The only light was from the open door that lead into the library's main room and what little light shown thru only reached down the first few steps. He kept his eyes and ears alert for any signs of danger as he inched down into the darkness, It was a bad habit of his since he had always been afraid of the dark. He almost fell as he reached the bottom of the steps and felt for the light switch along the wall.
As he reached along the wall his hoof bumped into a small object on the wall, at first he thought it was a nail that stuck out to hang something on, he applied a little pressure to it until it clicked. Light flooded the room from a small light bulb in the center of the basement and he quickly closed his eyes against the blinding light. After allowing his eyes to adjust he slowly opened his eyes and began looking for the nails. He turned away from the light switch and froze, standing inches away from him was a solid white pony who seamed to hover above the ground.
He let out a small scream of surprise when the figure moved closer, not realizing he had bumped one of the legs making it move. He took a second look at it and realized that it was just one of Rarity's designer manikins that somepony had left down here. He couldn't help but laugh while he poked it and watched it sway from side to side.
"Is everything alright down there?" Twilight said from the top of the stairs "ya this manikin just scared me." He heard Twilight's laughter fade away as she walked back to the kitchen and began looking for the tools again, on a table at the back of the basement he found a small box of nails and tried to pick it up with his hooves but quickly realized that wasn't going to help. "why do they make it look so easy in the show" he said as he bent down and picked up the box using his mouth.
The box tasted horrible and the dust on it made his nose itch, he had to force himself not to gag or sneeze out of fear he might drop the box and spill its contents all over the floor. He walked over to the stairs and climbed back up into the library. He bit down harder on the box as he sneezed a couple times from the dust that blew off the box every time he exhaled, he quickly walked over to the bookshelf and spit the box out, he gagged and quickly ran out the front door and spit a few times to try to get the taste out of his mouth. "blagh...next time ill just tell Twilight to go get it." He spat once more then turned around and walked back inside.
He walked over to the bookshelf and sat down "now how am I suppose to do this? I didn't see a hammer so maybe I could use." he paused and began to look around for something hard he could drive the nails in with. "I guess I could use my hoof for now" he said with a shrug. He picked up one of the boards in his mouth and positioned it correctly between the shelf supports being extra careful to not get any splinters in his mouth.
The supports had little hooks on which the shelfs rested, so he could just set the board on top of them and nail it down. He leaned in and looked at them closer, the metal hooks had been bent out of shape and wouldn't hold the shelf itself on properly. He turned and opened the box of nails beside him with his hoof, he tried to open it correctly but found it impossible and he was growing impatient, he gave up on the little flaps on the front and just stood on the box till the front ripped open and the nails spilled out.
He looked down at the small pile of nails and the small broken cardboard box they had been in. He put his hooves together and picked up a nail slowly and moved it to the bookshelf, there he placed it on top of the shelf he was going to nail. "hmm now what do i do, i don't think i can get my rear hoof up this high to nail it while i hold the nail with my front feet." he thought as he tried to think of a different way to do it. "aha i think i know what i could use" he got up and walked back down into the basement to see if he could find that small yellow tube he had seen down there.
He spotted a small roll of tape leaning against the leg of the table the nails were on, he shrugged and leaned over to picked it up, only to see that the tape was old and the sticky side was dried up meaning it wouldn't help him. He signed and began looking for that tube. "aha that will work perfectly" he said with a smile as he spotted the small tube of wood glue and picked it up. He quickly turned around and ran back up the stairs and over to the book shelf. He put the tube down and bit down on the lid to twist it off, once the cap was off he gently pushed on it till some of the yellowish liquid oozed out onto one of the nails.
He picked it up, being careful to not get any of the glue in his mouth and sat it upright on the shelf. The nail stuck to the shelf sitting straight up and didn't fall over when he let go, he was quite proud of himself for thinking of this as he raised his hoof and brought it down quickly and precociously on the top of the nail. The nail quickly went down thru the shelf and into the support, he was amazed at the fact he didn't feel any pain like he had expected. He placed the other shelfs onto their supports and began setting up the nails so he could hammer them down quickly, he stopped to rest and glanced at the kitchen, He could smell the oat meal Twilight had fixed but just barley over the strong stench of the wood glue.
He looked at the floor as his stomach let out a loud growl and made his whole abdomen hurt. "geez i haven't eaten since i went to sleep two nights ago" he groaned looking back at the nails standing upright on the shelfs. He had placed them all in their correct positions and was about to start to drive them in when Twilight walked out of the kitchen. "breakfast is ready" she looked at him and laughed. "why didn't you wait i was about to help you with my magic." Hoss turned around annoyed, "could have said that before i started" he said turning around and looking at the nails he had set up himself.
He drove a few nails before Twilight walked over and used her magic to nail the top shelfs neither of them could reach with their hooves. "alright now come get some breakfast before it gets cold" she said as she picked up the glue with her magic and replaced the cap. "alright" Hoss said as he stood up, the room began to spin and he quickly sat back down. he felt light headed and his hooves refused to step where he wanted them to. Twilight was laughing again as he tried to stammer a few steps. "gah stupid glue made me high and now i cant walk straight" he said as he looked at the floor annoyed. "Twilight can you help me to the kitchen before i run into something and knock myself out....again" he said turning to look at her.
Hoss closed his eyes as he felt his weight grow lighter and thought he was about to pass out, after a few seconds he decided to open them again to see whether or not he was on the floor, he saw that he was moving thru the air and turned to see Twilight was levitating him to the kitchen. "once i put you in the kitchen I'll go up stairs and wake up spike, he'll be so happy to know he doesn't have to fix that book case." She gently sat Hoss down at the table then turned and left, he looked at the table to see 4 bowls of steaming oatmeal.
His stomach growled again before he leaned over and sniffed the bowl closest to him, "hmm apple, and i half expected it to be hay." he said with a grin. The room had stopped spinning by time Twilight, Nyx and Spike entered the kitchen, and he was thinking about how nice it would be to sit outside and eat his food, he used to do this all the time when he was younger and had time to do things like that. He looked down at the bowl then down at his hooves and sighed. "ya I'll have to eat here since i have no clue how to hold things with these hooves" he thought as he watched the trio walk into the room.
"how did everyone...everyPONY sleep last night? Hoss asked as they all sat down at the table. Nyx looked at him nervously then back at her food, while spike just yawned and grabbed a nearby spoon. Twilight looked at Nyx then back at Hoss, he knew what she wanted him to do but he had no clue how to start. He thought for a couple of seconds before he began, "Nyx im sorry for yesterday, i wasn't thinking straight." he stammered as he looked at Twilight for help. Nyx picked her head up and looked at him "it's ok it was different from how most ponies greet me" she said with a smile as she levitated a spoon into her oatmeal and began eating. Hoss looked at Nyx then back at Twilight who was smiling slightly at Nyx then back at his food.
He watched twilight pick up her spoon with her hoof and begin eating, and could only look down at his. He placed his hoof on the spoon and lifted up only to see the spoon hadn't moved. "ok...now" he said as he tried again, the spoon once again didn't move. He tried several more times before a giggle broke his concentration. Twilight was looking at him with a grin while spike had his claws over his mouth trying to hold back his laughter. Hoss looked back at the spoon annoyed then looked back at Twilight. "how the heck are you holding that spoon with your hoof" he said looking at her hoof and back to his. Spike couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and his claw fell away from his mouth as burst into laughter, Twilight and Nyx joined in while Hoss sat there looking annoyed at his hooves. "guess im stuck eating apples or hay until i figure out how to work these correctly" he chuckled as he began to laugh to.
Everypony fell quiet as a knock came from the front door. "ill go get it" said Twilight as she walked out of the kitchen. Hoss stood up and followed her into the main room. Twilight opened the door, standing there was a mailpony holding a letter for, he guessed, Twilight. She took the letter and shut the door without a word. "How rude, you didn't even thank him" he said as he walked to the door and opened it. The mailpony had begun to walk to the next house with an annoyed look on his face. "HEY! mailpony, thanks for the letter" Hoss called out to the mailpony, The brown pony stopped in his tracks, he turned around and waved at Hoss with a big grin on his face.
"There see how easy that was?" he said as he turned around and walked thru the doorway and back into the library. Twilight was in the middle of the room levitating a letter inches from her eyes. "oh, no" she said as she dropped the letter and began to levitate books around the library. The books that were stacked near the shelf Hoss had fixed flew into the air and began to line themselves up into their correct order before flying onto the shelfs. "whats going on Twilight? What did the letter say?" asked Hoss as he dodged a few stray books.
"Princess Luna wants to visit me today." she said as she levitated a broom in front of herself. "Why would she do that?" asked Hoss who was now sitting on the floor trying to think. "She didn't say, all she said was that she needs to speak with me right away" Twilight was now running up stairs and towards the broken window, the curtains shut suddenly hiding the window from view.
Hoss sat there staring at Twilight when a knocking drew his attention to the door. Twilight stopped, turned around and ran down the stairs to the door. Hoss decided it was best to not pay attention to their conversation since it might be something private so he stood up and began walking around looking at the books on the shelf he fixed, he half expected them to all fall off as the old nails gave way, but nothing happened. Twilight had opened the door and was welcoming Princess Luna as Hoss looked at the titles of some of the books. He had seen a lot of different titles, most of them being history books, but he did notice that the bottom shelf has a series of Daring Doo books, he smiled remembering the episode about Rainbow Dash reading these books for the first time.
"ehem Hoss....Hoss!" Hoss jumped at the sound of Twilight's voice right behind him. "Sorry, I was looking at all the different kinds of books here and kind of spaced out for a few seconds, what did you need?" he said as he looked behind Twilight to see Princess Luna staring right at him. "Princess Luna needs to speak with you." she turned around and walked over to Princess Luna and sat down beside her. He hesitated a little before walked up to her and nodded his head "pleasure to meet you miss Luna" She gave him a strange look and turned to Twilight. "You were right he is a strange pony" she said as she turned back to Hoss who was now beginning to worry.
"Don't worry the Doctor told me about you, all I'm here to do is bring you back to Canterlot with me." she said raising her head. "Is Twilight coming with us?" Twilight looked away while Luna shook her head. "I see...so your taking me to Canterlot, I'm guessing because you want to lock me up until you know whether im a threat or not." he said looking at Luna. She turned away and looked at Twilight for a couple seconds before meeting Hoss' glare. "Yes and no, my sister wants us to be careful with anything that appears thru the rifts the Doctor has told us about" Hoss stood up and began walking to the door "well I hope the dungeon has a bed for me to lay on." "oh you wont be in the dungeon, The Doctor told us that you didn't seam that dangerous, so we will place you in one of the guest rooms."
Princess Luna stood up and walked to the front door before turning around. "Twilight you and your friends are free to visit him if you like" Hoss walked over to the cart and climbed inside and turned to watch Princess Luna and Twilight finish saying their goodbyes. She turned around and walked over to the cart, and used her wings to lift herself up into it, she sat next to Hoss and looked at him. "The Doctor is already at Canterlot waiting for you to arrive, he will escort you to your room." Luna said nodding for the two Pegasi dressed in royal guard armor to take flight and return them to Canterlot.
The cart shifted as the two royal guards took flight, he turned around to see Twilight was still outside watching them leave before he closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "Is something wrong?" said Luna with concern when she saw him leaning back. "It's nothing Princess, I would rather keep my feet...I mean hooves on the ground instead of up in the air." Princess Luna shrugged and returned to watching the royal guards pulling the cart along thru the air. Hoss still felt tired and the cart's side to side movement wasn't helping him to stay awake, neither was the warmth the sun gave off. He gave up fighting it and relaxed letting sleep wash over him.
Hoss awoke to see that they had landed inside some kind of garden, he turned to look at Princess Luna but she was gone, he looked at the front of the cart to see the guards had left to. "Would have been nice if they waited for me or woke me up sooner." he thought as he climbed out of the cart to stretch his legs. The grass felt cool against the bottom of his hooves, he looked up to see that the cart had been pushed underneath a large tree at the center of a lush and green garden. He looked up at the sun and guessed it was a little past three in the afternoon. He walked around a little more admiring all the different types of flowers and plants that were growing in the garden.
The garden was surrounded by a large hedge with two decorative arch ways on only two of the four sides. He looked out the rear arch way to see the maze that Discord had used to trick the mane six. He walked around the front of the cart and looked thru the other arch way, Standing high above it he could see the towers of Canterlot, The towers seamed to glow in the afternoon sun and reflect the light into the city below.
He walked back to the cart and sat down in the cool grass and leaned against one of the cart's wheels while he stared at Canterlot, or what little of it he could see behind the hedges. "I guess i should wait here for someone to come get me." he thought looking up at the tree that was providing shade over most of the garden. The tree had to be three or four times the size of the tree the Ponyville library was in and looked a whole lot greener than it to.
He stood up and walked over to the small path that encircled the tree around its base, the tree's trunk was about the same size as the tower's that covered the Canterlot skyline. "So your finally awake" Said a voice making Hoss quickly jump around. "easy now its just me" Said the Doctor with a smile. Hoss relaxed and walked over to the chestnut stallion who was now standing in front of the parked cart. "Guess its time to go to the guest bedroom made into a prison cell huh?" said Hoss as he walked past the Doctor.
"Sorry its the only way i could get them to let you stay here a little longer while i find the rift that brought you here." he said following Hoss, they walked together towards the arch way that led to Canterlot. A small gravel path led them up to the gates which lead into the city itself. Hoss was to lost in thought to ask the Doctor any questions, besides he would need something to do while he was locked in the guest room.
He lifted his head up and began to look at all the different statues that were around the main path, Near each statue was a path that led off into either a small hedge bordered corridor or to an area with a few park benches. He noticed that there weren't any other ponies anywhere inside the hedge garden. "Doctor where is everypony?" Hoss had stopped walking and was looking around. "Celestia had arranged a fair today in the Castle court yard for everypony in Canterlot." the Doctor said as he continued to walk, Hoss had to run to catch back up to him.
The Doctor nodded to the guards as they walked thru the gate and into Canterlot, the guards had opened a small gate off to the side to let them in thru. Hoss expected to walk thru the gate and be on the other side of the fence that surrounded the city but quickly figured out that wasn't going to happen. He walked thru the gate and into a long dark hall way that was built into the wall. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it out, the device let out its familiar hum and bathed the dark hallway in a green light.
"Stay close" The Doctor said as he began following the hallway. "Why are we going this way Doctor? Instead of thru the main building?" Hoss said as he caught up with the Doctor. "This is a short cut, i told Celestia i would have you in your room by Three Thirty and its already Three Twenty since nopony woke you up when you arrived." He said picking up the pace. The Hallway had lots of twists and turns to it and had hallways that branched off every now and then. Hoss was amazed that the Doctor seamed to know exactly where to go, but quickly brushed it off thinking it was just his sonic screwdriver leading them.
They walked down one final hallway before coming to a stop in front of a solid wall. Hoss looked at the doctor with a questioning stare as he scratched his head and looked around. He looked at the wall again and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the wall, The wall quivered then split in two revealing a bedroom behind it. "that's cool it's just like the movies" said Hoss who had walked thru where the wall had been and was looking around the room.
There was a queen sized bed with silk covers in the middle of the room with solid pine nightstands on either side. A large oak Chester drawer sat next to a door that led to the guest bathroom, there was a pine wardrobe on the other side of the room that had a few shirts sticking out of it. Lining the wall on the opposite side from the bed were two large windows that over looked the Canterlot garden he had woken up in. He walked into the bathroom to see that it had a large bathtub which looked to be made of stainless steel, The floor had black and white tiles from wall to wall and a round light hung from the center of the room.
There was a small sink in the opposite corner from the tub, which had its own set of lights and a large mirror above it. Hoss turned to see that the doctor had re-sealed the hole in the wall and had opened the door to the main hallway. He turned around and walked over to the door and peaked his head out, the hallway was very long, one end was lit up like a rainbow had formed right inside the hallway and had a large set of wooden doors while the other end looked like it split off into two different hallways.
He walked back into the room and looked out the windows again before finally looking at the Doctor. "Alright doctor when do you think you will find the rift i came thru so you can put me back thru? Cause i don't think i can keep my sanity staying in this room for days on end." Hoss said before walking over to the windows again, he could see the Doctor had parked his TARDIS right outside the hedge maze, which explains how he snuck up on him in the first place.
"Well that's going to take some time since i have no clue where the rift went after you came thru." The doctor shrugged and turned back to the door. "Doctor this world doesn't rotate like earth does, right?" Hoss had walked over to the bed and was looking at the ten different pillows that were on the bed. "yeah Celestia and Luna control the day and night cycle." said the doctor who was now eyeing Hoss.
"Well what if the rift that opened in my dimension stayed in one place while the other end here rotated with the earth?" he said sitting down on top of the bed, it was a huge improvement from the hard couch he slept on in the library. The Doctor looked down at the ground before jumping up and running over to Hoss" of course!, that's why i couldn't track it, oh Hoss im starting to like you more and more." Hoss didn't know whether to be happy or afraid at that moment as The Doctor bolted out of the room and into the hallway.
Hoss jumped up to follow and ran to the door to try and catch up, As he passed thru the door though he ran into something hard and landed back inside the room on the floor. "ow..." he said getting up rubbing his head, the Doctor had herd the sound and came running back to the door. "heh sorry I forgot to mention that Celestia put a magical barrier around this room so you wouldn't go wondering off once you were inside." Hoss stood up and walked over to the door and lifted his hoof up into the air and reached out, he felt his hoof touch something solid and saw the air around it ripple.
"whoa that's cool, Wait why can't i leave? it's not like im going to run off or anything" he said as he poked the force field again and again. "I was the one who suggested it, I don't know if you running around is going to cause more rifts to open or if something might come and take you away trying to fix this, so it's safer for you in here then it is out there since only me, Luna and Celestia can enter without having to drop the shield."
he watching Hoss play with the force field. "Well Doctor i guess I'm going to take a nap since i have nothing better to do while i wait for you to find that rift" He said with a sigh before shutting the door, he walked over to his bed and climbed up into it. He tried to lay down on the mountain of pillows but found that uncomfortable so he moved all the pillows, except for two, to the other side of the bed. "who the heck needs this many pillows in one bed" Hoss said as he layed his head down on the two last pillows, his legs ached from all the walking him and the doctor did.
He sat up and looked out the window to see the sun was just above the horizon meaning the Doctor's "Shortcut" had taken longer than he thought, he guessed the Doctor did get lost but played it off like he knew exactly where they were going. Hoss smiled and layed his head back down on the pillows, both were feather pillows and probably the softest pillows he had ever felt.
He yawned one final time before closing his eyes, he couldn't sleep at first because his mind refused to stop thinking about everything that had happened over the last few days. He still couldn't get over the fact that he was really here, this all still felt like a dream but he didn't care, he wanted this dream to last for all eternity but he knew he would eventually wake up, back in his bed in the real world, and go back to living his boring life again. He drifted off to sleep, bathed in the orange light filtering thru the windows that signaled sunset.
Hoss sat up in bed and stretched, he had gotten his first good rest since he had arrived in Equestria. He climbed out of bed and walked over to the windows, the moon had risen high into the sky and was bathing the ground in it's blue light. He pressed on a little leaver at the bottom of the window guessing it was some kind of window lock, he reached out and gently pushed on it opening the window more and more till it was fully open and the gentle breeze was blowing thru it.
The air was cool and the sound of the wind blowing thru the trees filled the small room. He turned around and walked into the bathroom shutting the door behind him. "Guess i should take a bath while i have the chance" he said turning the levers that controlled the hot and cold water. He walked over to the sink and opened the small doors underneath to find some towels.
The small compartment was empty except for the sink's plumbing that ran thru the center of it. he shut the doors and looked into the mirror, this was the first time he had gotten to look at himself since he had arrived here. "I have a mustache? I didn't even feel it!" He said running his hoof thru the mustache on his face. His attention was then turned to his mane, it stuck out well above his head and seamed to be combed back, even though he had never touched it with a comb. "Why do i have white hair? I'm not old enough to have white hair." He said before his flank caught his attention.
"Wha...I'm a blank flank?! Why has nobody told me" He said looking over his shoulder at his flank. "Looks like I'll have to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders if i go pack to Ponyville" He smiled a bit before he walked over and turned the water off still looking at his flank every now and then, he didn't feel like taking a bath now and just wanted to talk with the Doctor more and more. He pushed another lever near the faucet that opened the drain up, what little water there was in the tub swirled and went down the rusted looking drain in the front of the tub.
He let out a sigh as he looked at his flank one last time before walking back into the bedroom, the window was still blowing the cool night air into the room and he decided to sit down near it and look outside. Inside the maze there were a couple figures walking around enjoying their celebration Celestia had organized, Outside in the garden he had arrived at there were now a lot of different shops set up.
He could just make out a sign that said "Apple Cider, Equestria's Finest" on one of the booth's closest to the castle, he guessed he was in one of the main buildings by how high up he was, he looked down and figured that the ground was about sixty to seventy feet down. He stood up and walked over to the door that lead to the hallway and opened it, he half expected to see two armed guards keeping watch over his room but there was nobody in the hall.
The barrier let him walk far enough out into the hall where he could look up and down it's entire length apart from where the hallway split off in different directions. He reached his hoof out to make sure he didn't run into the barrier, since it was invisible to him unless someone touched it. His hoof met something solid and the air rippled around his hoof in different directions, he didn't know why but he loved to see those little ripples travel up the side of the barrier and crash into each other.
He poked it a few more times before sitting down and waiting for someone to walk by so he could ask to speak to the Doctor and get some answers. "Like how to pick things up with these hooves" he thought looking down at his hooves and shaking them to emphasize his frustration. He finally gave up and walked back into his room after sitting in the hall for a good hour if not two, he walked over to the window and looked out to see that all the shops had closed down and everyone had went inside to get some sleep, except for a few guards who were walking around the maze caring lanterns to light the way.
He looked back at the bed and sighed, he wasn't tired after having slept twice today instead of staying awake the entire day like he should have. Beside his bed he saw a silver plate with a shiny silver lid on it, curiosity got the better of him and he walked over and carefully lifted the lid off with his teeth and sat it aside. Underneath there were some apples and a note, his stomach ached and his mouth watered as he quickly read the note.
"The Doctor told me you liked apples and couldn't eat anything else because of your stomach problem, I hope you feel better by dinner time tomorrow since we chiefs in the royal kitchen will be fixing an extra special feast for the Grand Galloping Gala, Hope you enjoy these apples hand picked from the royal garden earlier this afternoon.
The Head Royal Chief"
Hoss pushed the note aside and bit into one of the apples, his eyes went wide as he continued to chew. "These are the best apples I've tasted!" he thought as he bit into the apple again. These apples were so sweet and juicy he had to wipe his mouth after every bite. He ate a couple more apples before walking over to the window again, The window was the only form of entertainment he had since he couldn't leave the room and he really didn't feel like starting any of the books on the bookshelf near the hidden door him and the doctor came thru.
He leaned out the window and looked down at the ground "Since the force field thing encircles the room, does that mean I could jump out and be caught by the barrier?" he thought looking down at the ground before pulling his head back inside the room. "God that was a stupid idea, Hoss how did you break your legs? Well i decided to jump out a window to test a force field and it didn't catch me, or i would be stuck halfway down there with no way to get back up here till Celestia rescued me." he said rolling his eyes before walking over to his bed and laying down.
He hadn't bothered to turn on the light since he got up since the moon flooded the room with it's light. He layed there in bed wide awake for a couple hours before he forced himself to fall asleep since it was the only thing he could do other than staring out the window waiting for the sun to rise.
Hoss pulled the covers up over his head to block out the light from the sunrise, which shown directly onto his face making it uncomfortably hot. He had been up and down all night since his mind insisted on thinking about what was going to happen in the next few days. He knew that all this was going to have to come to an end, the Doctor would find the rift then have him step thru it and back into his boring dimension.
Hoss sat up with a sign and threw the covers off, before climbing out of bed and grabbing an apple in his mouth. He walked over to the window and sat the apple down to eat it while he watched the shops open and the ponies gather around to have their fun. There were only a few ponies walking around since most of the shops were still closed, he reached over to bite into his apple only to see it was gone.
"What the..." he said looking out the window, he saw the apple crushed against the path and some ponies gathered around it. A few were looking up at him and all he could do was smile and wave before sticking his head back into the room embarrassed. He walked over and grabbed another apple and walked into the bathroom with it to go comb his hair and wash his face before he started looking thru the books on the shelf.
He sat the apple down on the edge of the sink and grabbed on of the washcloths he had left out last night. He turned one of the knobs on the sink and let the water run until it was warm then dipped the cloth into the water. He used his hooves to squeeze the extra water out of the cloth before draping it over his left hoof. He used the cloth to wash his face, making sure to clean the bits of apple out of his mustache.
Once he was done he lifted his still wet hoof and combed back his hair since it was a tangled mess from him tossing and turning all night long. He grabbed the apple in his mouth making it water uncontrollably and walked over to the window, instead of setting the apple down and eating it like before, he put the whole thing in his mouth and ate it all in one bite, except for the seeds which he spat into the trash can near the bed.
He looked down into the garden to see that most of the booths were now open and packed with ponies and that the maze also had a lot of ponies inside walking around in groups and laughing at each other when they ran into a dead end. He sighed and rested his head on the window sill, he wished he could be down there having fun with all of them but there were two problems.
One he was stuck in here cause of the magic barrier and two he wasn't sure how everypony would react to him not having a cutie mark at his age. He guessed in this dimension he had to be at least twenty to twenty five while in his dimension he was only eighteen and still couldn't grow facial hair, he sat in silence watching the ponies bellow have fun while he was stuck inside.
He looked at the bookcase and was surprised to see that none of the books had the titles printed on the outer covering like most books. He wanted to read one but in order for him to do that he would have to knock it off the shelf and he didn't feel like destroying anything here since it wasn't his place. The sound of faint music floated in thru the window and made him turn back to look at the garden.
A small crowed had gathered around one area of the garden that was roped off. He sat quietly and listened to the music for a few minutes before a knock came from the hallway door drawing his attention. He stood up and walked over to the door and opened it up, he looked out to see Celestia and the Doctor standing there with Royal Guards on either sides of them.
He stepped aside and they walked into the room leaving the guards outside. "Hello Princess Celestia" said Hoss looking at her standing in front of the guest bed. He looked over at the Doctor who was standing near the window looking out. "would have been nice if you would have came earlier" Hoss said walking over to the Doctor. "Sorry i lost track of time searching for the rift" he said looking at the red pony standing in front of him.
"Alright so whats going on now?" said Hoss shifting his attention between the Doctor and Celestia. "I wanted to meet you before you left with the Doctor back to Ponyville" Celestia said looking at him. "Well its nice to meet you Celestia" he said bowing slightly, he didn't want to fully bow out of fear he would fall on his face. "Well i guess we should get going, I'll explain more on our way" Said the Doctor as he turned to the door.
"alright" said Hoss as he followed the Doctor out into the hallway, Celestia had raised or removed the barrier cause he had no trouble walking right into the hallway. The Doctor led them thru the different hallways that lead outside, Hoss was amazed to see that everypony was outside instead of wondering around the halls. They walked down one final hallway that lead to a large open doorway, beyond that Hoss could see the booth's and carnival games inside the garden and hear the music playing.
They hurried outside and thru the garden not stopping to look around, Hoss couldn't help but notice all the ponies pointing at him and whispering to each other. They ran out of the garden and into the maze, The maze's walls were at least the size of a small house and they were to thick to look thru. Hoss followed the Doctor thru a series of twists and turns before they rounded a corner and he saw that familiar blue box sitting at one of the dead ends.
The Doctor quickly ran up and clapped his hooves together, the doors of the TARDIS flew open and he ran inside. Hoss walked in and looked around then back at the doctor "alright Doctor why are you taking me back to Ponyville now? and why are you in such a hurry?" Hoss had walked up to the control panel and and was looking at the Doctor.
"Aww, I love when people.....er ponies..say the line." he sighed turning to look at Hoss. "I found the rift and im going to take you thru it, the rift was in the library and hadn't moved since it's just...inactive." The Doctor pulled a few of the levers and walked around the console looking at the monitor sticking out. The TARDIS let out several long groans and vibrations before stopping, the inside of the TARDIS fell silent and the doctor ran over to the doors.
Hoss was amazed to see that they were just outside the library "Doctor are you sure this is the right time?" Hoss said walking outside and looking around. "Yes I'm sure, why do you ask?" the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and locked the doors behind him. "Well usually you get your time mixed up and bring people back month's after you told them you would." Hoss walked up to the library and waited for the Doctor to follow.
The Doctor trotted up carrying a strange device in his mouth, he sat it down in front of Hoss who was looking at it with great curiosity. "What is this Doctor?" Hoss said looking at it closely, the device looked to be constructed using pieces from an old computer, vacuum cleaner and an alarm clock. "It's what im going to use to open the rift again" The Doctor picked the device up again using a leather handle that stuck out from the side and pushed the Library door open. Hoss looked around at Ponyville for the last time, he wanted to stay so bad but knew he had to return home to set things right. He let out a long sigh before walking into the library after the Doctor.
Hoss walked into the library to see Twilight and the Doctor talking, he had sat the device by his feet and they kept looking at him. He thought he saw a look of pity from Twilight, but only for a split second. He looked around the library to see that the couch had been moved and all the surrounding furniture had been moved away to. "Is it going to be loud? Cause i just put Spike and Nyx to bed and i don't want to have to wake them up again" Hoss overheard Twilight and looked up the staircase where her room was. "There will just be a pop when i open and shut the rift, no louder than a door shutting." The Doctor said picking up the device and walking over to where the rift was. Hoss began to have second thoughts "The whole universe won't be affected by me staying or else it would have shown the signs by now."
Hoss thought backing up to the front door. He waited until the Doctor activated the device and pointed it at the rift's location, there was a loud 'pop' and Hoss yanked the door open, turned around, and ran outside. Hoss ran as fast as he could and didn't stop running until he was on the edge of the Everfree forest. He sat down panting and tried to catch his breath, his mind wheeled with thoughts like "What am i going to do now?" and "Where will you go?" but he didn't care he would enjoy the last few hours he had in Equestria before the Doctor showed up and forced him thru the rift.
He let out a sigh and stood up, if he was going to be forced to leave he was going to have a look around Ponyville before. He walked around a few minutes looking at all the different types of buildings thru out the town before he came to the main street that lead to the library. He walked past Sugar Cube Corner, looking at all the different shops as he headed back to the library. He was tempted to turn and run, just run until he was to tired to run anymore before the doctor came looking for him.
He figured it would give him some sort of chance but quickly realized that he was wrong, he had been inside the TARDIS meaning the Doctor could easily track him and would catch him eventually. Hoss lowered his head and continued to walk, something slammed into him knocking him off his feet. Before he knew what was happening he was drug inside a nearby house, The door slammed shut and he struggled to see in the pitch black room.
He could hear somepony crying and several other voices trying to calm her down. He heard the buzzing that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver made and the lights clicked on, he looked around to see the doctor standing in front of the shut door looking out a small window in the middle of it. He turned in the direction of the crying to see Twilight and her friends sitting on the floor. Rainbow Dash was the only one not looking at Twilight, she was glaring at Hoss with a look of pure hatred.
Twilight wiped the tears away from her eyes and followed Rainbow Dash's gaze, When her gaze met his she began to cry again. "It;s you." She said thru a stream of tears. She tried to continue on but broke down into tears again. Rainbow Dash stood up and walked over to Hoss, he felt a something hit his side and stumbled trying to keep his balance. She looked at him before kicking him in the side again, this time he lost his balance and fell to the floor.
"This is all YOUR FAULT" She said kicking him again. The Doctor ran over and put himself between her and Hoss "This isn't going to solve anything, they are gone and hurting him won't bring them back" Hoss stood up and winced as he tried to put his weight on his back leg "Doctor what happened?" The Doctor motioned for Twilight's friends to come hold Rainbow Dash so she wouldn't attack him again.
He walked over and looked at Hoss "The rift began to grow in size after I ran out trying to stop you" He looked at the ground then back to the door. "By time me and Twilight got back here the library had disappeared" his voice trailed off and he walked back to the door. Hoss sat down and looked around in shock as he realized what the Doctor was saying, he finally understood why they all kept glaring at him with such hate.
He looked back at Twilight on the verge of tears, "They are right, if i hadn't of been so selfish nopony would be dead and everything would be back to normal" he thought as he watched the Doctor open the door and run outside. Hoss stood up and limped after him forcing himself not to look back, outside it was quiet and he quickly saw the doctor standing near a large crater where the library had been, he could see the ground around the crater slowly disappear into nothingness making the crater larger and larger.
In the center of the crater was a large white ball of light that seamed to absorb everything it touched, He limped over to the Doctor who was deep in thought "Doctor, what is that ?" The Doctor blinked a few times before turning to him "The two dimensions have become unbalanced and are trying to repair the hole in time and space." Hoss looked back at the hole "Will it fix everything if I jumped in? Since i don't belong here anyway" he said coldly. "No....all that would do is add you to the list of the dead." The Doctor said turning back to the crater, Hoss knew he was lying but nodded anyway before turning and walking back into the building.
He slowly limped back to the house trying to figure out what to do, If he stayed a lot of innocent lives could be lost, But if he jumped thru and that didn't fix the problem he would have died for nothing. He stopped and turned around at the sound of several screams, he looked on in horror as one of the nearby houses was pulled apart by the rift and three yellow mares were dragged outside.
The three mares were drug to the edge of the rift then sucked in, their screams echoed thru out the area as they each disintegrated into nothing more than dust. The Doctor ran over to what was left of the house and helped two white mares out of it just as the rest of the building lifted off the foundation and flew into the rift. Every time something entered the rift it would disintegrate into dust and that dust would travel to the ball of light in the center causing it to grow larger.
Hoss couldn't bare the sight of anymore pain and suffering because of something he caused, he decided he was going to set everything right and jump into the rift, even if it didn't fix everything he would rather be dead instead of watching anypony else get hurt because of him. He walked back inside the building and could see everypony had calmed down, they were all sitting next to each other looking at Twilight who was just sitting there staring at the floor. Hoss walked over to the group, ignoring Rainbow Dash's glare and sat down "I'm sorry....I believe I know how to fix this" He said fighting back the tears.
"What do you mean?" Said Twilight, He could still hear the sadness in her voice which made it even harder to hold back the tears. He shook his head and stood up, if he stayed any longer he was going to break down and cry. He limped out of the door and looked around, the Doctor was still talking with the mares trying to calm them down and there were no ponies in the streets. He looked at the rift and sighed before he started limping towards it, he had to hurry before the Doctor could stop him or before Twilight and her friends walked outside.
As he limped closer to the edge he could feel the rift's pull on his body. He heard somepony call his name and turned around to see that the Doctor was running towards him "Hoss get away from there! Your going to be pulled in!" Hoss quickly turned around to see Twilight and her friends had ran outside to see what was going on. "That's the idea" He sighed as a few tears ran down his face, he had wanted to jump into the rift unnoticed but it was to late for that.
He limped over to the edge and let the rift pull him in. "NO!" Screamed the Doctor as he reached the edge of the crater just as Hoss fell in. At first he felt like he was just floating thru the air but that quickly changed as he felt his skin being pulled in every direction at once, he screamed as he felt his back legs disintegrate followed by his front ones, he looked down to see there was nothing left of them and had to fight to not black out from the pain.
He looked out of the rift, even though his vision was blurry from the intense pain he was in he could see the Doctor, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all standing at the edge of the crater staring at him in horror. He tried to smile before the rift gave one final pull, he screamed as an intense pain ripped thru his body. He felt his back disintegrate before there was a pop in the back of his head and everything went black.
Hoss began to stir as he regained consciousness, he looked around expecting to see the library back to normal but instead saw the inside of a bedroom. His bedroom. He looked down to see he had hands instead of hooves and squeezed them shut. "I'm back in my room, I hope that fixed everything on their side since it seams it worked on this side." He said with a sigh as he stood up.
He walked over to his bathroom and combed his hair down while brushing his teeth,he finished and walked out stretching, his arms and legs ached while his head throbbed. He guessed it was from traveling thru the rift, or the fact he was having a mental break trying to figure out if it was all real or not.
He walked back into the bedroom and got dressed, by the time he finished his head was killing him. He sat down at his computer and began to think about all the different experiences he had had but they seamed to be fading like most of the dreams he had. He grabbed his head again as the pain from his head worsen, he thought it might be a migraine but this felt worse than any migraine he had had before and decided he should take some aspirin and lay back down until it went away.
He stood up and immediately sat back down feeling lightheaded and grabbed onto the computer desk to keep himself from falling over. He looked up and could see the air in front of him rippling and for a split second he thought he could see Twilight standing on the other side of the rift with her horn glowing and tears streaming down her face. His vision began to blur as he felt more and more lightheaded, he felt himself fall forward and hit the floor but felt no pain. He closed his eyes tightly trying to fight the urge to black out but quickly found it was a losing battle. Everything seamed to fall away, the noise from his computer became a distant echo then disappeared completely. It was like he was traveling thru the rift again but different, this time it felt like he was being forced thru instead of being pulled in like last time. He finally gave up fighting and let himself pass out.
Hoss shivered as the cold wind cut thru his coat as he began to regain contentiousness. He stood up and began to walk around, he was amazed to see he was back in Equestria but everything seamed to be larger than it should be. He shrugged it off and looked around, he could see he was in some kind of forest and that the ground was covered in a layer or snow and the air was cold and crisp, he began looking around for some shelter he could hide in till the sun came up before he began looking for the nearest town. He froze as something began to crash thru the undergrowth close by, the last thing he wanted to do was meet a creature larger then himself when he was still weak.
He listened and could hear the sound growing louder and louder, he dove into a nearby bush that had once been a rabbit's home, he was amazed at how easily he fit inside such a small bush. The inside had a dirty covered floor free of snow and was large enough he could sit inside comfortably without touching the bush itself. He could see thru the bush's leaves and out into the dark forest which was bathed in the glow from the moon. He shrank back farther into the bush as he saw two yellow eyes glowing from in the forest.
A small yell escaped his mouth before he could cover it as he saw a figure walk out of the bushes. The figure stopped and looked in the direction of the bush before walking out into the moonlight, it was a dark grey mare with a purple mane and tail, she had bright yellow eyes that cut threw the dark like a pair of suns. Hoss tilted his head as he noticed this pony had an odd feature he hadn't seen before.
She had a pair of bat wings instead of feathered ones, she looked at the bush for a few more seconds before walking forward slowly. He tried to hide deeper in the bush but was blocked by a stump which the bush had grown around. The mare leaned down and looked inside, her face softened when her eyes met his. "What are you doing all alone out here? Your going to freeze in this cold. Lets get you someplace warm until we find your parents" her voice was calm and reassuring but Hoss was unsure whether to trust her or not and what she meant by his parents.
He stood up and slowly walked out more afraid of what she might do if he refused. He stared at the mare who towered over him "she has to be atleast the size of a house" he thought looking up at her. "Can you talk yet?" She said looking down at him. "y...yes I ca..." He paused and grabbed his throat. "Why does my voice sound so high pitched?" he thought as he looked up at the mare who was now looking a little confused herself. "Wow you must have learned to talk pretty early since you only look to be four or five" she said smiling at him.
His eyes widened and he quickly looked at his hooves which were shorter than they should be and at how close he was to the ground. "Why am i a little colt? Last time i was here i was a full grown stallion" he thought looking back at the mare standing there. "where are you going to take me?" he said looking up to her. She knelled down and let him climb up on her back before she stood up and walked thru the undergrowth again.
"I'll take you to my house for now so you can warm up then like i said before we will find your parents, they must be worried sick about you." Hoss looked at forest which was covered with a thin layer of snow. "I don't have any parents..." The mare stopped suddenly almost throwing Hoss off. "What do you mean? and don't you know its dangerous to wonder around the Everfree Forest alone?" She was staring at him now making him feel uncomfortable.
"I don't know how i got here, i just woke up laying down back there" He said looking at her then up to the sky. He felt like crying but couldn't figure out exactly why. "I guess I'll just have to take you home with me till you find a better home" She said as she started to run thru the undergrowth again. Hoss starred up at the moon and couldn't help but recognize the mare in the moon meaning this Equestria was an earlier version to the one he last visited.
He looked back down at the forest and saw a faint glow up ahead between the trees, as they neared he could just make out the shape of a small house and the smell of burning wood. The house had two small windows in the front and a porch that wrapped around the side of it. The front door was on the left side where the porch started and had a small mailbox near it. The porch was made of wood and had a decorative handrail that ran along the length of it.
The mare walked up the steps which lead up onto the porch and opened the door using one of her front hooves. Hoss could feel the warm air coming from inside as the door opened wider, The smell of burning wood was more intense inside the small house and made him think about the winters he had spent with his mother when they had an old wooden heater in their house. The mare whipped her feet on a small mat outside and walked in, she shut the door and knelt to let Hoss off her back before she quickly ran into the kitchen.
The room he was in now had several pictures on the wall, all of which were pictures mountains and rivers which were painted using oil paints. There was a couch on the left side of the room while a wooden rocking chair sat on the right side. In the middle stood a stone fireplace and had several small trinkets on top of it's shelf. Hoss quickly walked over to the fire and warmed his hooves by it.
The mare walked back into the room with a small cup that had steam raising out of it, she walked over to him and sat the glass down next to him. "Careful its hot" She said before walking back into the kitchen. Hoss leaned over and sniffed the glass carefully, the glass was full of warm hot chocolate and smelt amazing. He took a small sip from it before turning back to the fire. "so whats your name anyway?" said the mare walking back into the living room with a plate that had a couple apples on it.
"My folks just called me Hoss" he said taking another sip. "Nice to meet you Hoss my name is Midnight Blossom, I'm going to go fix a bed for you in the guest room so you won't have to sleep out here on the couch" she said standing up. "No it's alright I'll sleep in here tonight, then tomorrow I'll help you with the bed." He said taking a bit out of the apple he had grabbed off the tray.
He finished drinking his hot chocolate and eating his apple by the time the fire started to die down. He looked up at Midnight who was staring back at him "can i stay here with you? Since i have nowhere else to go" he said before looking at the fire again. "That's fine with me since i really don't want to take you to the orphanage and just leave you" she said before she walked outside and brought another log inside and tossed it into the fire, she picked up the glass and plate and carried it into the kitchen.
"Goodnight Hoss I'll see you in the morning" She said walking down a hallway next to the kitchen's door. "Night" he said looking at the fire. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of living here, not only in Equestria but inside such a lovely home. He yawned and layed his head down on his outstretched hooves. He didn't know why he was here again or so young or even why he still remembered everything, but now he wouldn't have to go back to his boring old life, instead he could stay here and start a new one. He smiled again and slowly drifted off to sleep as the flames casted shadows against his red coat and white mane.