Fluttershy's Cabin
Ponyville
The Modern Day
Fluttershy's Cabin
Ponyville
The Modern Day
"Ugh..." Robin groaned, wincing as his eyes fluttered open. He immediately blinked in disbelief. For smiling, yes - smiling down on him were the same damned yellow pegasus and purple... uni-pegasus from his dream.
"Great..." he groaned. "How many dreams am I supposed to go through before I figure out what's real? Am I dead? Is this what the afterlife is?!"
"You're awake!" the purple one beamed. "Oh thank goodness - I was worried I gave you too high of a jolt."
Robin gave her a blank look, before groaning and closing his eyes. "A psychologist could have a field day trying to figure out what this represents..."
"Huh?" the purple one said, looking as confused as he was.
"I think he really did suffer some head trauma," the yellow one whispered.
Robin gave another groan, shaking his head. "Can you two please be quiet so I can hopefully have another dream within a dream or something? And I thought Inception was weird..."
"Inception?" the yellow one asked, glancing at the pegicorn. "What's that?"
She shrugged, frowning slightly.
"A movie," Robin grunted. "It's an action movie - a good one - and it did not involve talking ponies."
The two glanced at each other, raising eyebrows, then glanced back at him.
"Yeaaah... could you give us a second?" the purple one asked politely.
Robin opened his eyes, before rolling them. "Let me guess - you want to decide if I'm crazy or not. Well honestly, I don't even know anymore. But please - go have your talk."
"He's bright," the yellow one whispered.
The purple one nodded. "Yeah... he is. Especially for somepony who just-"
"Hang on," Robin grunted. "Did you just say somepony?"
The purple one blinked. "Why yes - who doesn't?"
Robin shook his head, exasperated. "God - if you're listening - you have a really weird sense of humor."
The purple one squinted an eyebrow. "Alright... I hate to admit it - but I'm a bit confused-"
"Welcome to the club."
"- Fluttershy finds you in the Everfree Forest, unconscious, and now, well - I've heard of amnesia, but not amnesia involving a pony forgetting which species he is."
"I know what species I am!" Robin moaned. "I'm a huma-"
His eyes widened in horror. "Wait... did you just say... pony?"
"Yep. You're definitely a pony," she said blankly.
"I'm sorry if it's not what you expected," the yellow one peeped. "D-Do you want a-"
However, before they knew it, Robin was already on his... hooves, glancing downward at his legs... before raising his hooves to his eyes.
"W-What?!" he gasped, inspecting them. "Seriously - what in the name of fuck!?"
The yellow one's eyes widened. "Language!"
"He said fuck, not the B-Word, Fluttershy," the purple one commented. She then glanced at him curiously. "What does 'fuck' mean, anyway?"
"Ooooh, I don't know," Robin stated, his heart pumping like no tomorrow. "Something you say when you're angry, something drivers like to say with their fingers, something you say when you realize you've been transformed into a member of another species!?"
At that, he galloped, yes - galloped, in front of a mirror... and began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh... oh my god."
Gazing back at him was a red pony, though one strangely familiar. He had everything 'Robin' did. Robin tights. Robin outfit. Robin utility belt. Even Robin boots. Oh - and Robin look of absolute incredulity.
"Alright, keep it cool, Robin," he said, taking a few deep breaths. "You've been in weirder situations. Remember the whole thing with Mumbo? This may be like that or something..."
"Yeah, seriously!" the purple one called. "You need to-"
"Twilight," 'Fluttershy' whispered. "He's clearly in shock. You need to be a little more sensitive with him. He... he may really have been something else before this..."
"But the mirror is in the Crystal Empire," Twilight said, baffled.
She shook her head. "No - not from... that world is just a mirror," she whispered, gaining a raised eyebrow from Twilight.
"Fluttershy - how do you know that?!" Twilight cried.
"Um - a good guess?" she peeped. She then turned back towards Robin. "Um - Robin, right...?"
He was gone.
"Ooooh shoot," Twilight sighed.
"Come on - he couldn't have gotten too far!" Fluttershy called. "Oh - I hope he's alright! He looked so worried!"
"I'm not sure if I should be offended by this," Twilight blinked, before shaking her head. "Anyway, yeah - let's find him!"
At that, the two swiftly made their way out of the front door of the cabin, happening to find it open...
"Robin!" Twilight called. "I'm sorry - I should have been more sensitive - we can talk about-"
She didn't have to look far. There stood Robin in Fluttershy's front lawn, gazing in absolute awe at the nearby town of Ponyville. It was high noon, and the town was as busy as ever. Pegasi soared from clouds to buildings to clouds, unicorns trotted the streets, occasionally performing acts of magic, and regular looking, though mutli-colored ponies, such as the one he seemed to be, manned the lunch vendors, ready to meet the noon rush.
... And on the edge of town, a lone guitarist strummed and sang a beautiful, though somehow... sad tune.
Fluttershy and Twilight galloped next to him, gazing at him with both pity and wonder.
Robin shook his head in disbelief, blinking rapidly, before plopping onto his flank.
...
...
At that, the trio sat in silence for literally a good ten minutes.
"This... this is real, isn't it?" Robin finally said weakly. He glanced at Twilight. "I don't know why - but I feel like I've been sleeping for a very long long time... and now that I think of it: it feels like it's been an eternity... but where the hell did I wake up to?"
...
"Where do you think you belong?" Twilight asked.
He glanced ahead. "Not here... this... this is like something out a fairy tale. Mythology. Right now I'm counting twelve unicorns and fifteen pegasi... and I think I see a minotaur in there too."
"Iron Will," Fluttershy spoke.
"That's his name, right? It's not just describing him or me?" Robin asked.
Fluttershy nodded. "Both, I suppose."
...
"And you... are called Fluttershy and Twilight?" he asked.
The two nodded, and Robin shook his head again, giving a long, sorrowful sigh.
...
"You really are new here, aren't you?" Twilight said, gazing at him with disbelief.
Robin remained silent, a look of total loss on his face.
Twilight then winced, smiling at him. "Well... wherever you're from, it doesn't matter. All creatures are welcome here, so long as they come in peace. And you don't seem like you're out to cause trouble - even if I'm still wondering about that mask of yours - so... um - even if y-you're-you're shocked or depressed about being somewhere completely different from what you know..." She took a deep breath. "I just want to say: Welcome to Equestria."
Robin remained silent, before continuing to gaze into the distance, as a rainbow, seemingly being drawn across the sky by pegasi, slowly formed in the far sky.
He remained that way the rest of the day...
... And Twilight and Fluttershy sat with him the entire time.