My New Life

I followed Rainbow Dash as she led me in the direction of Ponyville. With each step, my chest and leg burned in agony. I almost didn't care. I was in Equestria, living my dream.

I kept staring at Rainbow as I followed her. I had to admit, she was actually really cute. In fact, I'd say she looked 20% more beautiful than the prettiest girl at my school. Not that I cared for human girls. They never liked me, I never really liked them. But still, you know what I mean- this was no human girl, this was a pony- Rainbow Dash. And she was still better than any human girl I'd ever seen. Oh great, I haven't even been awake for an hour and I'm already getting these thoughts, I thought to myself.

"You still got your music-player thingy?" Rainbow Dash asked, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh- yeah, I got it," I said. I had picked up my iPad before we had started walking and I now held it in my left hand since my right was still bleeding like crazy.

"Could you play something on it?" she asked. "I really like rock. I'll never forget how Rarity changed our music at the Best Young Flyers Competition- that music was SO uncool."

"Um... I guess," I said. "What do you want to listen to?"

"Any kind of rock music that sounds cool would be cool with me," Rainbow Dash said.

"Um... let's see..." I said, turning on the iPad. "Oh, here's a good one."

I clicked the song and "Not Falling" by Mudvayne began to play.

"This is pretty good," Rainbow said. "I haven't really heard a lot of hard rock."

"Mudvayne's one of my favorite bands," I said.

My leg suddenly flared in pain and I stumbled and nearly fell.

"Hang on, Nick!" Rainbow Dash said. "We're nearly there!"

"Damn it, I hope so!" I said under my breath.

"Look!" Rainbow said. "There's Ponyville, over there!"

I looked in the direction she was motioning in and I gasped. There was Ponyville, and it looked exactly how it did in the show. Even from a distance, I thought I could recognize a few buildings, like Sugarcube Corner and the town hall.

"One thing I should probably mention," Rainbow Dash said. "Nopony has ever seen a real human before, so they may get a little, ya know, freaked out by you."

"Wonderful."

"Don't worry," Rainbow laughed, "I'll be there right with ya."

We continued walking and my leg and hand continued bleeding. Soon, the song playing was over and a new one came on. It wasn't by Mudvayne and it was softer rock but I could tell by Rainbow's expression that she approved of this song, too. Damn, this pegasus had a good taste in music.

As we approached Ponyville, we passed one pony. Sure enough, as Rainbow had predicted, the pony stopped and stared after me with her jaw gaping like I was the world's weirdest freak (but in a way, I guess I was). Rainbow gave the pony one of her everything's-cool smiles before continuing.

"So, Nick," Rainbow asked. "Where did you come from? I can tell humans aren't from Equestria- by the looks of you, I'd say humans aren't even from this world."

"I come from this planet called Earth," I replied. "It's a nice planet, but I'd honestly rather live here."

"You'd rather live HERE?" Rainbow asked, surprised. "But you just got here. How do you even know if you'll like Equestria?"

"Trust me, Rainbow; I've seen this place before."

"When? How?"

"It's a long story," I said.

"Well, you can tell me later, we're here."

Rainbow Dash and I walked into the town, down Main Street. There had to be at least sixty ponies walking around there, doing their daily whatever, and they all stopped talking and moving and just stared at me as Rainbow Dash led me down the road. I was trying not to look like a total dumbass in front of all these ponies, but I wasn't sure I was doing a very good job. I mean, I was a creature they had never seen before- a creature covered in blood, to be more exact. I don't think I exactly made a good first impression.

"We'll go to Twi's library, first," Rainbow said. "She can use her magic and help you right up, I bet."

"I hope so," I said.

"Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash said. "I know you're from this Earth-place and all, and you're apparently a human, but you still haven't said how you know so much about us."

"Er... Do I have to tell you now? Like, right now right now?"

"Yeah," she demanded. "I want to know!"

All of the ponies on the street were still staring at us, so I kept my voice down. "Well... You know, Dash... Where I come from, you're just fictional characters from a TV show."

"Fictional characters?" Rainbow said in disbelief.

"Um... Yeah."

"Um... Ok then... But wait, what's a TV? You still haven't told me that."

"It's like my iPad," I told her, "but it's a lot bigger and it just sits in a room and you can watch stuff on it."

"I see," Rainbow said, her voice sounding strange. I knew what was bothering her. She was still trying to take in that she was only a fictional character in my dimension. Her next words proved it.

"Nick? You weren't lying about all of us just being fictional in your dimension, were you?"

"Nope," I said quietly. "It's true."

We continued walking. We were almost at Twilight's library; I recognized it.

"Why do you have a picture of me on that iPad thing?" Rainbow asked. "No offense... But that's slightly creepy. And it looks exactly how I do, here in real life."

"I was always your biggest fan, Rainbow," I said. "And there's other humans back in my dimension that have pictures of other ponies for a background on their iPads, too."

"You're my biggest fan?" Rainbow asked. "That's so cool!"

We stopped at the door of the library. Behind us on the road, everypony was still staring at me. I think the only reason they didn't panic was because Rainbow was with me acting like everything was normal. Or at least close to normal.

"I just have one more question," Rainbow asked. "Back in your dimension, with your show about us- was I awesome in the show?"

"Yep," I replied with a smile. "You were always the best, Rainbow."

"Cool!" she said. "Well, do you want to knock?"

I raised my fist, preparing to knock- but then hesitated. I was about to meet another pony of the Mane 6- I wondered how Twilight Sparkle would react when she saw me.

"Oh, just do it," Rainbow said. "I'll explain everything to her."

"Well... Ok."

I raised my fist and knocked on the door. The door, like everything else in this dimension, looked animated, but it felt real. I guess it was actual wood, come to think of it, just a different type in a different dimension. The door opened and Twilight Sparkle stood there. I was kind of surprised that she wasn't an Alicorn princess- I guess I don't know everything.

For a moment, Twilight just stood there, staring at me and then at Rainbow Dash, who was next to me.

Twilight didn't freak out, thank god, but when she spoke, it was in a curious confused tone.

"Um... Rainbow? Who is this? And why is he... covered in blood?"

"It's... a long story, Twi," Rainbow told her. "I found him near the Everfree Forest, where I was practicing."

"Wait..." Twilight said, staring at me with a thoughtful expression on her face. "That's not... a human, is it?"

I found the strength to talk. "Um... Yes, I am a human."

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight said with delight. "You're an actual human! You can even talk- the myths are real!"

"What's all the racket about?" a tired voice said. I looked down as Spike the dragon appeared next to Twilight in the doorway. This just kept getting better and better.

"Wha- huh?!" Spike said in surprise, staring up at me. "T- Twilight, what is THAT thing?"

Twilight laughed. "Oh, Spike, he's just a human."

"B- b- but you told me humans were only myths!" Spike said, beginning to sound hysterical. Man, that dragon got worked up easily.

"Well, sometimes myths are wrong!" Twilight said with a laugh.

"But what if he's dangerous!" Spike said, holding the sides of his face with his claws. "What if he has some sort of weird, evil power that will destroy us all!"

"I'm not dangerous, and I certainly don't have any special powers," I told Spike as Twilight laughed.

"Woah!" Spike said. "He can talk! He can even speak our language!"

"I sure can," I agreed.

"I do have a question," Twilight said, which I translated in my mind to 'I have a LOT of questions about you'.

"But first, come on in, both of you," Twilight said. "You're attracting a lot of attention."

Twilight was right. The ponies out on the road were all still staring at me, and some new ponies had come out of nearby buildings to join them.

"Yeah... That's probably a good idea," Rainbow Dash agreed. "And he's still got a piece of metal sticking out of his leg."

We all walked into Twilight's library (well, because of my leg, I more like stumbled in), and Spike shut the door behind him.

Twilight noticed the pain I was in from my leg. "Here, have a seat," she said kindly. Her horn glowed purple and a chair from upstairs floated down, surrounded in a purple light, and set down near me. I quickly sat down in the chair, grateful for the chance to finally rest my leg. I took this moment to look around Twilight's library- sure enough, it looked exactly as it did in the show.

"Ok," Twilight said, and I moved my gaze to her. "So, what's your name? I haven't asked you yet."

"His name's Nick," Rainbow said, answering for me. Twilight glared at her a little but I nodded. "Rainbow's right, that's my name."

"Well, Nick," Twilight asked me. "How the heck did you end up in Equestria? All I have to do is look at you to tell humans aren't from this world... And possibly not even this dimension."

"Well-"

"Hang on!" Twilight said. "I'm so sorry, I just forgot!"

Twilight's horn glowed purple again, and I felt the piece of metal that was stuck in my leg gently slide out. I looked at it, floating in the air, and gasped. I was wrong about the piece of metal being only six inches long; it was closer to ten inches and four inches from the bottom was covered in red. That thing had really been jammed in my leg.

"Shit," I muttered.

I suddenly felt liquid running freely down my leg, flowing out from the wound at an alarming speed.

"Um, Twilight..." I asked, but the unicorn was already on it. Her horn glowed purple again, and I felt the muscles and skin in my leg rejoin together, but not fully repair themselves.

"Sorry," Twilight said. "I'm not good enough to heal bad wounds like that completely. Just be careful, or you'll pull the skin or the muscles apart again. If you manage to not hurt it any more than it already is, it will heal by itself completely after awhile."

"Oh man, thanks, Twilight!" I said. "I can't believe you just did that for me!"

"Oh, it was really no big deal," Twilight said, but still looked pretty dang proud of herself. "Now, back to what I asked before- how did you get to Equestria?"

"It's a really long story, actually," I replied, "but I'll tell it so you can understand it. To make a long story short, there was a really bad accident in my dimension- one that actually came very close to killing me. That's why I'm covered in blood, in fact. That's how I got hurt."

Twilight looked thoughtful. She paced around in front of my chair for a few moments, then looked at me again. "But that still doesn't tell us how you got here. Do you remember?"

"I honestly don't remember," I said truthfully. "I was just lying there, and then I fell unconscious, and I woke up here."

"Interesting," Twilight said thoughtfully. "You know, if you haven't been in Equestria for any more than two days, based off of magic and scientific theory, I have a spell that could temporarily send you back to your dimension."

"Temporarily?" I asked.

Twilight nodded, her eyes closed in sadness. "I'm sorry, Nick, but there's not a spell that anypony knows that could something back to it's original dimension permanently if it's already switched dimensions once. From what I know- and this is all just based off of theories- if one object switches dimensions, it's impossible to send it back to its original dimension permanently. You could send it back temporarily- but it would fade after awhile and just re-appear in the dimension it got sent to, but for good this time."

"Wait," I asked slowly. "Are you saying that you could send me back to Ea- my dimension, but I'd come back here after awhile?"

Twilight nodded. "I'm sorry, Nick," she said sadly. "If you haven't been in Equestria for more than two days, I could use the spell to send you back for awhile- but you'd come back here after twenty-four hours."

"That's great!" I said.

Twilight looked confused. "You're not sad that you can never see your own dimension again if I send you back for one more time? And even if I don't send you back before two days, it will be too late to see your dimension whatsoever!"

"I know how this sounds, Twilight- but I'd much rather live in Equestria than my old dimension."

"But don't you have friends there in your dimension?" Twilight asked.

"A few," I said. "But most of them just don't get me. Trust me, my friends will forget about me soon. I know what you're thinking. 'Nice friends, right?'"

"But what about your family?" Twilight asked. "You surely must have a family in your dimension that cares about you!"

"My family thinks I'm dead. They think I died in the accident." Suddenly, I felt sad for the first time as this harsh truth sank in. "They think I'm dead. I don't know if I should face them since I'll just have to say goodbye forever, anyway."

Twilight looked like she felt bad for me. "Do you want me to send you, then?" She asked. "You'll fade and re-appear in Equestria in twenty-four hours."

"Yeah... I guess," I said. "I want to see my dimension one last time."

"Ok, I'll go get the book that the spell is in," Twilight said. "Now, where would it be?"

"I know where it is!" Spike said proudly. He ran over to a nearby bookshelf and climbed it, grabbing a book from the top shelf. He jumped back down and handed the book to Twilight.

"Oh, Spike," Twilight said with a laugh, "I don't know what I would do without you."

Spike grinned proudly.

Twilight flipped to a page in the book. Then, she stared at me in concentration.

"This is a really difficult spell," she muttered. She closed her eyes, her horn began to glow-

"Wait!" I said. Twilight's eyes opened and her horn stopped glowing.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Could Rainbow go with me?"

Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight stared at me in surprise.

"Well, if she wants to, obviously," I said quickly.

"A chance to see a new dimension?" Rainbow said. "AWESOME!"

"I don't know!" Twilight said. "It's theoretically possible-"

"Wait, I've just found a problem," Rainbow said. "If you send me to his dimension, won't that mean I'll never get back here to Equestria, since I've switched to a new dimension?"

Twilight laughed. "You don't need to worry, Rainbow, I don't know any spells to send anything to new dimensions for the first time- that is VERY advanced magic. There hasn't been a unicorn in fifteen thousand years who has had the power to do that. Which, by the way, goes to show how old this book is just for this spell. The princess gave it to me."

"Ok, I'm officially confused," Rainbow said. "How does this all work then?"

"I'm using a spell to temporarily send an object- in this case, Nick- back to his own dimension because he's already somehow switched to our dimension. I'm not sending him to his dimension for the first time. Theoretically, if you are touching him when I send him, Rainbow, since you HAVEN'T switched dimensions before and you are a living organism, Nick's dimension-print will become a part of you, too, and you'll both head back to Nick's dimension and you'll both fade and re-appear here when your time runs out." Twilight turned to me. "The only problem is, taking Rainbow with you will decrease your time there from twenty-four hours to maybe only five or six."

"That's good enough for me, if Rainbow still wants to go," I said. "Well... Rainbow? Want to come visit my dimension?"

Rainbow hesitated a bit, then walked over and extended her wing. I set my iPad, which I had still been holding in my hand, on the floor of Twilight's library and took Rainbow's wing in my hand. Her wing was softer than I expected. It felt comforting.

"Are you both ready?" Twilight asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be," I said, standing up from the chair I had been sitting in, still holding Rainbow's wing.

Twilight looked at the book and closed her eyes for concentration. Her horn began to glow. At first, nothing seemed to be happening but after a minute, I saw the white mist surrounding me and Rainbow. The mist grew thicker, and I could just barely make out Twilight, grunting from concentration, her horn literally sparking and crackling as it glowed. Finally, the mist grew think and dark, and I couldn't hear the sound of Twilight's magic anymore. Then, the mist cleared. Me and Rainbow were standing near a small town, about a fifth of a mile away from the road that led there. We were back on Earth- or at least, I was back. This was Rainbow's first time here. She looked around in amazement.

"Please be careful, Rainbow- the people here aren't used to seeing ponies like you."

"Got it," Rainbow Dash said confidently. "Um, Nick? You can let go of my wing, now."

"Huh?" I said. I realized I was indeed still holding Rainbow's wing and I let go quickly, turning a bit red. "Sorry about that!"

"Don't mention it," Rainbow said. "Well, I guess you have about five hours to get prepared for your new life in Equestria- we better get started."

"Yep," I agreed. "But just remember, be careful and don't let anyone see you."

"Don't worry, I won't," Rainbow said. And with those words, her and I headed in the direction of the town. Time to get prepared for when I headed back to Equestria.