Never Wish

by Ximer

The Sleep Over

“What would you say you’re best feature is?” Twilight asked as the carriage came to a halt next to a cottage near the edge of a forest.

This game of twenty thousand questions had started once we left Celestia’s castle. For a pony that had been to our world, she seemed to be awfully curious about me. It felt like an interview for a job at times, but it kept my mind off of being in the air.

“I guess my height. So what’s this place?” I asked, following Twilight as she left the carriage.

“I wanted to introduce you to one of my friends. She can be a little shy at first, but she’s one of the nicest ponies I know.” Twilight said, knocking on the door with her hoof.

What sounded like a squeak came from the other side of the door, followed by a crash. Everything was quiet for a while, save for some chickens that were pecking at the ground occasionally, and the soft flowing of a brook beneath the bridge we had crossed.

“Hey Twilight, if ponies don’t eat meat why keep the chickens?” I asked.

“The same reason you do, for the eggs.” Twilight replied.

Twilight knocked on the door again, this time a bit softer “Fluttershy, it’s me!” she called out.

Not long after that, the door slowly opened to reveal a yellow pony with wings. Her pink mane was long enough to partially touch the ground. On her flank were three little butterflies. I had noticed something similar on Twilight, Celestia and Applejack but hadn’t bothered asking about it.

“Oh, hey Twilight, what brings you out here?” Fluttershy asked, her pupils growing comically smaller when she noticed me.

Here it comes. I thought to myself.

“T-Twilight w-w-what’s that?” Fluttershy asked with a whimper.

“This is Daniel, he’s not from around here.” Twilight said nonchalantly.

Twilight had made the claim this was the nicest pony she knew. I figured it would be an uphill battle trying to prove I wasn’t a monster of some sort, but with the reactions I had received so far it felt more like a lost cause.

“Hi.” I said, with a small halfhearted wave.

“H-hello.” Fluttershy said still unsure of me.

It felt like the floor was about to fall out from under me. Twilight had stuck up for me, for whatever reason she deemed justifiable. She had faith this would work, so I couldn't throw in the towel just yet. Pushing rejection out of the way, I tried again, to start some kind of conversation.

"So, what's with the butterflies?" I asked.

"B-butterflies?" Fluttershy asked "O-oh you mean my cutie mark?"

"If that's what they're called yeah I guess...is it like a tattoo or something?" I asked, squatting to try and appear less intimidating.

I was mentally praying this would improve things. Once I was about the same height as Twilight, Fluttershy seemed to relax a little and the nervous shaking stopped. Her eyes no longer looked like they would pop from her head at any given moment either.

"Oh goodness no, you get them when you find your special talent." Fluttershy said looking back at her mark.

"So your talent is butterflies?" I asked forcing a smile.

"Well it actually has to do with an-" Fluttershy started to explain, until a gurgling noise from my stomach stopped her.

I hated my stomach's timing, but it was my own fault for not addressing the issue sooner. I hadn't stopped to eat while I was still home last night, nor did I say anything when I was at Applejack's. It was a mystery how my stomach managed to stay silent during my talk with Celestia but I chalked it up to occupying my mind with more important matters.

A much quieter noise came from Twilight's stomach which almost made me laugh "Did I cause you miss out on meals?" I asked.

"No nothing like that, besides it's not every day a new species comes to Equestria." Twilight said.

The species part made me sigh, even if it was true. It would be something I would have to get over. Like it or not, I was the new thing to these ponies.

"A new species? Oh wow, where are you from?" Fluttershy asked, her personality doing a complete about face.

"Uh, Earth." I said, a bit scared by this sudden emotional shift.

"I've never heard of Earth before! Is it a hidden place somewhere?" Fluttershy asked excitedly.

I was about to answer before my stomach spoke for me. It really did have the worst possible timing when it decided to let others know I was hungry.

"Oh you poor thing, come in before you starve." Fluttershy said flying behind me.

I felt a soft push against my back, and assumed it was her trying to move me. The pegasus wasn't very strong, but to humor her, I stood up and ducked down to avoid hitting my head on the door frame. I looked back to see Twilight smile as she followed us in.

Ha! Eat it low hanging objects! I thought to myself, right before I hit a birdhouse with my head.

"Now, what do you eat?" Fluttershy asked, forgetting our height difference as she flapped her wings to stay eye level with me.

I paused, considering what to tell her. Twilight said she knew about humans, which meant she probably knew my dirty little secret about eating others who had been baked or cooked. This pegasus was heart attack inducingly innocent, and I couldn't bring myself to confess my carnivorous side just yet.

"Fruit is fine." I said sitting on the floor after examining the couch carefully and deciding it was not worth the risk.

"Okay that's simple enough, Twilight I already know what you like, so I'll be right back." Fluttershy said landing on the floor with a soft clop sound and walking into what I assumed was a kitchen.

While she was gone I observed the inside of the cottage, and was impressed by how many different bird houses she had. There were small doors on the walls as well, similar in size and shape to the hole I had seen a cartoon mouse use before.

I always felt afraid to touch or go anywhere in someone's house. Part of this fear was out of respect for the owner. The other part was an unhealthy fear of breaking something if I so much as moved.

The furniture in the house was all miniaturized, making me feel as if I was in a large doll house. While the furniture was probably more stable than I gave it credit for, I doubt the carpenter had envisioned a six foot alien sitting in it.

“See this isn’t so bad is it?” Twilight asked with a proud look on her face.

"I feel like Wreck-It Ralph in here." I replied.

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"You didn't see that movie while you were in my world? You missed out, it was pretty good." I said.

"I was preoccupied. My visit wasn't out of pleasure, or in the name of discovery. My crown was stolen." Twilight said.

My response was silenced by a small plate being held up in front of me. Fluttershy had returned, unsurprisingly quickly with how simple my request had been. On what would be considered a coffee cup plate, by my world’s standards, were some apple slices and grapes.

Twilight had a simple sandwich that had daisies between the two slices of bread. A purple light covered the sandwich as did Twilight’s horn. The sandwich floated inches from the alicorn’s face as she started to eat it.

I noticed Fluttershy had a third plate in her mouth and was already sitting down across from me near what I assumed was a coffee table. I could only guess since everything here was built around the ponies' smaller size.

Fluttershy’s eyes were locked on me as I ate an apple slice. It was unnerving to say the least.

“So what’s Earth like?” Fluttershy asked before taking a small bite of her own food.

“Well, it’s not much different from Equestria really. The whole floating sandwich thing is new though. Everything is a lot…bigger.” I said taking another look around the room.

Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s sandwich, then back to me with a horrified look “You don’t have magic?” she asked.

“No there’s no magic in their world Fluttershy. That’s why we’re trying to get to the bottom of how he got here in the first place.” Twilight said taking a break from her sandwich.

“How do you get anything done?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hundreds of years ago magic was used to explain a lot of stuff, but now we rely on technology.” I said.

Magic seemed to play a vital role in this world from Fluttershy’s reaction. So far it felt like all I had done was answer questions about how different my world was from theirs. I decided it was time to get some answers of my own.

“So the cutie mark thing, how does it work?” I asked.

“Oh, well when a colt or filly is born they don’t have a cutie mark. It appears when they learn what sets them apart from everypony else. Mine appeared when I learned I had a gift for taking care of animals animals.” Fluttershy said, looking at the three butterflies on her left flank.

I noticed what looked like a picture behind Fluttershy that had a bunch of different squares and half squares. I took it for a piece of art, but it seemed too simple to be framed, maybe this was another difference?

“What’s the deal with the picture?” I asked.

“Oh that’s not a picture; it’s an article on Rainbow Dash when she performed the sonic rainboom.” Fluttershy replied following my gaze.

“So those are words?” I asked, which made Twilight nearly choke on her food.

“I guess we have more to cover than I thought we did.” Twilight said recomposing herself.

The three of us turned our heads towards the sound of a clock alerting us of the time. It looked like an old grandfather clock I had seen at my grandparent’s house when I was younger. I also began to wonder if time flowed at the same rate here as it did on Earth.

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize how late it was. I really need to get back, not to mention establish a plan to introduce you to society. It’ll take a little work to get you past everypony else though.” Twilight said walking towards the door.

“Wait! I mean, it’s late and I could let him stay here for tonight…if that’s okay with you.” Fluttershy said.

Twilight grew silent in thought at the offer “That would make things easier. Does that sound okay?” Twilight asked as both ponies’ eyes fell on me.

“That’s fine, as long as Fluttershy isn’t bugged by me being here.” I replied.

“Oh goodness no, trust me you’re not a bother.” Fluttershy said.

Her words hurt, they weren’t malicious by any means but they still hurt. I was independent in my world I had everything. Here I had nothing but the clothes on my back yet I had been shown kindness that I felt I didn't deserve.

"Are you okay Mister Daniel?" Fluttershy asked concern on her face.

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about some stuff. Humans zone out sometimes." I said.

"You might want to work on that, because tomorrow you're hitting some books." Twilight said as the door turned purple before opening.

"Bye Twilight, I guess we'll see you tomorrow?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course, don't let him stay up too late Fluttershy." Twilight said as she closed the door behind her.

I'm sorry did I age in reverse as well? I thought to myself.

I looked at the couch and stood up, if this was going to be my place of rest for the night, I might as well get used to the idea of small furniture. I could only hope that they made bigger houses once I found a way to earn whatever their source of currency was.

"If something goes horribly wrong, I apologize in advance." I said, looking back at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked puzzled by my statement, but seemed to catch on and giggled "Oh don't worry about that, it's held somepony your size before." she said.

"Really? I thought Twilight said I was the only human here." I said.

"He's not human, he is different though." Fluttershy said with a smile.

I shrugged and sat down surprised that, true to her word, the small furniture held up. Perhaps I had been too hard a judge on their craftsmanship.

"Um Mister Daniel, can I ask you a question?" Fluttershy asked, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's fine Fluttershy, what's up?" I asked in return.

"Well, do you have a talent, or do you have something like a cutie mark?" Fluttershy asked innocently.

"I was good at a few things, humans aren't good at just one thing in their lives. I worked from behind the scenes though, so I guess mine wasn't as important as say giving a speech or something. My sister would have loved this place, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I didn't want a boring life." I said.

"Sometimes we don't get what we want, we get what we need instead. At least I like to think so." Fluttershy said.

"I guess that's a better way to look at it." I said with a yawn.

"You're going to sleep already?" Fluttershy asked surprised.

"I think world hopping takes more out of you than they claim it does." I said with a smile.

"Oh, okay I'll see you in the morning then, goodnight Mister Daniel." Fluttershy said as she flew towards the stairs.

"Hey Fluttershy," I said stopping her "Am I scary, you know to be around and stuff?"

"You were a little scary at first, but I think you're nice, and I'm sure everypony else will too, if you give them a chance to get to know you." Fluttershy replied before disappearing up the stairs.

I tried to get as comfortable as I could on the couch. I'd slept on them countless times, but never one this size before. It took a while but I eventually found a position that was comfortable enough to slowly drift off to sleep.

Sleep was no aid to my weary mental state of mind. Visions of my family, friends and the life I had left behind filled my mind. It was a small tapping sensation that eventually brought a small amount of relief from what could neither be called a dream nor a nightmare.

I looked down into the darkness of the room to see two eyes looking back up at me. Their owner was a small white rabbit no bigger than my hand. His forelegs were crossed as if in agitation and I felt something rough against the back of my hand.

I moved it to see a carrot that was quickly snatched up by the rabbit who disappeared into the darkness of the cottage. As I tried to get back into my original position I noticed a blanket had been draped over me. There was little question as to who was responsible.

Then a moment of realization hit me. I had fallen asleep and woken back up in this world, Equestria. All of this was real, the magic, the ponies, everything. Tomorrow I was supposed to start learning about this new culture and it made me wonder.

"How much of my humanity will I be forced to give up?" I asked myself quietly.

Author's Note:

So here we go chapter four. Addressing the comment about the chapter length it is something that I will be trying to work on. Thanks to all of those that have liked this story so far.

Comments

[Ximer]

Thanks for the encouragement and feedback. I really will/do take what you guys post into consideration.

[Raven]

Dat last sentence, good question...

[Cutrose1985]

Good story so far keep up the good work

[Amethyst Blade]

[The_Filthy_Casual]

So I realize this is done and all, hell I found it through the sequel, and I fully intend to read both to completion at the time of righting, just thought I'd make a comment while it was on my mind.

So far it's been a great read. I like the idea of Twilight having experience with humans from EQG, don't see that often, it's refreshing. My only real gripe is with the relative size of the ponies, but that's not a real issue is it? :P

So in short i like what I've found here and look foreward to the ride.

[alphamalesdove]

Maybe it's just me... but I can't understand this:

"Well, do you have a talent, or do you have something like a cutie mark?" Fluttershy asked innocently.

"I was good at a few things, humans aren't good at just one thing in their lives. I worked from behind the scenes though, so I guess mine wasn't as important as say giving a speech or something. My sister would have loved this place, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I didn't want a boring life." I said.

DOES HE HAVE A CUTIE MARK????? He never says. And really he doesn't say what his talent is, unless it's "working behind the scenes". And where did his last sentence come from?? What made him change topics? Why wasn't Fluttershy confused? Did she already get the whole story about how he got there and the wish he made?

Am I just reading it wrong?

It's really good so far, though! I am really enjoying it. :3

[Fresnor]

I just started reading this but I'm calling it now. His sister also crossed over and became Daring Do.

[RoBrony]

“So those are words?” I asked, which made Twilight nearly choke on her food.

Hahaaaaa, I nearly choked on my Twilight.

[Luckyfanisaac]

I figured it would be an uphill battle trying to prove I wasn’t a monster of some sort, but with the reactions I had received so far it felt more like a lost cause.
*Heavy sigh*

Did I cause you to miss out on meals?

shape to the hole I had seen a cartoon mouse use before.
Ha ha I get the reference!

The furniture was probably more stable than I gave it credit
He he

"I feel like Wreck-It Ralph in here." I replied.

taking care of animals animals.

“That’s fine, as long as Fluttershy isn’t bugged by me being here.” I replied.
“Oh goodness no, trust me you’re not a bother,” Fluttershy said
"I have no problem with bugs so you shouldn't be a problem."

tomorrow you're hitting some books." Twilight said
Oh god no I hate when pinkie kept repeating that joke.

"I think world hopping takes more out of you than they claim it does." I said with a smile.
I have no trouble with it.

[Hawkx1]

“Oh, well when a colt or filly is born they don’t have a cutie mark. It appears when they learn what sets them apart from everypony else. Mine appeared when I learned I had a gift for taking care of animals animals.” Fluttershy said, looking at the three butterflies on her left flank.

Huzzah the animals have been doubled!!!