Link to TvTropes Page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/EquestrianJoe
Does NOT Contain:
- An overpowered protagonist
- A human-on-pony romance
- Unbelievable characterization
- A contrived plot where everything happens the hero's way
As a brony who prides himself on always knowing where the fine line between fantasy and reality lies, Joseph Ryan Ang was more than skeptical about where exactly he thinks he has landed himself up in when he stumbles and falls through a large hole in the forest while out on a solo hiking trip in the forests of Tennessee. But when he begins to encounter, and subsequently escape from several familiar creatures, each one harassing him and then moving on to nearly killing him on his harrowing journey back to civilisation, the realization that he just might have stumbled into another world altogether begins to take hold.
The realization then batters relentlessly against walls of skepticism, but even as the evidence begins to mount before his eyes, he continues to hold on to the incontrovertible facts that there are no such things as portals, and manticores and wolves made out of wood and bark do not exist.
At least, that's what he thinks until he bursts out of the Everfree, and discovers that he's landed up in Equestria.
All in all, it's just the kind of day that would have had him swearing loudly and at length.
But Joseph's arrival in Equestria isn't just due to fickle chance, or to the myriad ways of destiny. Dark forces of the world stir, their eyes intent upon him. Sinister motives plot and scheme, and upon his arrival in Canterlot he soon finds himself embroiled in a shadowy plot more dire than anything he could possibly imagine, with far-reaching portents beyond his wildest dreams. As he races against time to unravel a conspiracy against the crown despite being surrounded by mistrust and prejudice, Joseph will discover what it means to be a protector and a guardian of what he loves... and more importantly, what it means to be human in a world of ponies.
This isn't just about the machinations of fate, the paths of destiny, or the fickle whimsies of chance. It is about the way a man is capable of forging his own paths by the choices he makes, despite the circumstances foisted upon him. It is about the power of the freedom of choice, to defy what destiny had planned for you and to create your own fate. It is about how even the unlikeliest of individuals can turn out to become even the most unexpected of heroes, and how one man's desire to make a difference can change an entire world.
He came to their world as a man who barely even knew his purpose in life, much less how or why he had arrived there.
He is about to become a man who will forge his own path to the very heights of their nation.
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Shoutouts to HeirApparent and DigitalCore for helping me proofread, edit, and generate ideas for this baby!