//------------------------------//
// Episode 1: Welcome (Back) to Equestria 
// Story: My Little Pony: The Days of New Equestria (Season 1) 
// by ScorchingFlamesInc 
//------------------------------//

For a split second, when I was finally waking up, I thought all of this was a dream. I mean, Equestria shouldn't exist. Magic shouldn't exist. And Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow shouldn't exist.

But then I opened my eyes and endured the feeling of a different bed.

And a different body.

I gasped. I lifted my head to look around.

The green blob on the bottom of my eyesight followed me.

I whimpered and lifted my arms to touch it. I rubbed it.

And then I recoiled my arms away from my face.

Gone was the shirt I wore yesterday and the hands that were mine. Instead, I now have three thick arms, with a green coat, and stubby hooves at the end.

I suddenly felt something against my cheeks. I rubbed my cheeks, but as it turned out, my long brown hair draped on both sides of my face, covering my cheeks. So instead of my face, I felt a thick wall of hair.

As my senses came to, I then felt something on my sides. I had no blanket on, so all I had to do was move my sight down to take a look at my new body.

My eyes went wide. Not only was my body now the body of a green cartoon stallion, with a brown tail between my legs, but in my peripheral vision, I saw something folded on both my sides.

I looked at my left. And I saw a wing. I checked my right. There was a wing.

I cocked my body and looked at my flank. Although I was in a state of panic, I began to feel curious about my cutie mark.

What I saw was my head. Not my real head. But my head is in the style of how I draw myself. Simple, cartoony, and sporting three spikes for hair.

I fully lied back down. I'm not one to always put my hand- or hoof- on my forehead when I am stressed. But I did it for no reason.

And I felt a weird ripple suddenly go through my forehead, causing me to bring my hoof back. I slowly lifted my hoof and felt the thing.

It felt like a horn.

I looked at my wings. I felt my horn. I repeated this twice.

And then I screamed.


...
Intro
...


Chrysalis and Cozy Glow sat around the cutie map, while Tirek stood between the seat with a rainbow lightning bolt logo, and a smaller seat with no logo.

Although the castle was large, there was no denying that they heard the sudden scream echo through the castle.

"He's awake," Chrysalis stated.

"We knew this was coming, so we'll just have to try our best to not put him in an upset mood," Tirek said. "After all, he's no longer on Earth."

"Let's just get this over with..." Cozy muttered, getting off the table.




Leo's room...




I slowly got off the bed, somehow succeeding in getting on all four of my hooves. As soon as I was on all four hooves, however, they began to shake like crazy.

"Easy..." I muttered. "Easy... how do they walk?..."

I turned my head and saw a nearby mirror.

A strand of my long hair slid down a little.

"Mirror... intended target," I spoke softly.

Slowly, I lifted my front left leg, and my rear right leg, and brought them forward. I shook wildly and quickly landed the hooves a few centimeters further from where they originally stood.

I repeated this with my opposite front leg and opposite rear leg. I stumbled less, and successfully landed my hooves centimeters further from where they would.

I repeated, shaking wildly, but thankfully not collapsing on the floor.

Half a minute later, I was in front of the mirror, and I could see my face.

My face was (thankfully) clean shaven, and my facial structure resembled that of an average background stallion.

My brown hair was very weird though. I have more hair on my head than other stallions, with hair growing out in front of my ears and horn, giving me an even shaggier mane. It was very long, nearly half as long as Pinkie's mane when it’s flat. It was also unkempt, and draped on both sides on my head.

The door suddenly creaked open, and I felt my heart jump and my body nearly lose balance.

I turned my head and saw Chrysalis enter. Then Cozy.

"I'll wait out here," I heard Tirek say.

"I'm an alicorn?!?" I sputtered.

"We have a lot of explaining to do... don't we?" Cozy nervously grinned.

"Yes," I replied. "Why am I an alicorn? If you guys won, why am I still here? Where are the others?"

"I'll give you the short answers," Chrysalis cleared her throat. "You're an alicorn because when you intercepted the magic from the Bewitching Bell, it changed you. You're still here because we couldn't turn you back into a human. The other humans went back to Earth. And I will add this: as it turns out, there is a link between your world and this one. It closed last night. We don't know how long until it reopens."

"Wait, wait, wait..." I said. "I'm stuck here?"

"Until the link reopens," Tirek said from outside the room. "And Princess Twilight's double-checking the spell and waiting to retry your de-transformation."

"Oh jeez, oh jeez, oh jeez," I whimpered. "My family will think I'm gone! They'll get rid of all my belongings! I may not return for years!"

"We tried our best to send evidence of our existence," Cozy explained.

"Ugh... I blame Grogar for this..." I rubbed my head with a forehoof without falling down. "Because unlike him, I like you guys. Honestly, I dreamed of being sent here, but not like this! At the very least, I wanted my family to know!"

"Listen, I know you have mixed emotions or thoughts..." Chrysalis replied. "But just take my advice: try to clear your mind. You can't exactly go to town yet, since most of the population is still imprisoned. But just try it."

"How?" I scoffed.

"Until most of the population is released from their imprisonment, you'll stay with us," Tirek said.

"Come," Chrysalis nudged her head to the doorway. "We'll go to the Cutie Map room. And maybe later we can practice magic."

"How will that make me feel better?" I hissed.

"Just try it," Chrysalis replied.

I groaned.

"Oh, ok. Fine," I grumbled. "I'll apologize in advance if I'm slow since this whole 'walking on hooves' thing is new to me."

"We understand," Tirek said.

With a few shaky steps, I made my way to Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek and exited the room, all three reformed villains by my side.

We were quiet for a few seconds.

"So what are we gonna do anyway?" I asked as we made our way down the hallway.

"I have no idea," Chrysalis shrugged. "With most of Ponyville still gone, we have nothing to do."

"We could play cards," Cozy suggested.

"I appreciate all you're trying to do to clear my mind," I said. "But I'm still worried about my things being thrown away and how my family will react."

"Listen, even if that's true, we're here for you," Chrysalis promised. "And besides, what's wrong with using our currency when you return home? Just take some bits to Earth."

"I don't think they'd take gold if it didn't look like it came from my world," I replied. "Besides, is it even real gold?"

"Maybe?" Chrysalis answered. "I actually don't know..."

"Well, we need to do something," proclaimed Cozy. "I don't wanna stand here and do nothing all day. Besides, it's not like we're quarantined by some worldwide virus that cancels events and schools. We can go places."

"Like where?" Tirek asked.

Cozy opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed it.

"You got me there..." she said. "I'm not in a 'go to the park' mood..."

A metaphorical lightbulb appeared over my head. The perfect way to pass the time.

"Well, maybe you three can learn about friendship while we're here," I suggested. "I mean, sure you three could go to the School of Friendship at some point. But if you're reformed and want to know more about friendship, then why not take a head start?"

"How?" questioned Chrysalis.

"We could check the library for the Journal of Friendship," I shrugged. "After all, Twilight may not live here anymore, but I'm pretty sure Starlight is watching over the place. And as long as somepony or creature watches over the place, there's gotta be a few books."

"There's a Journal of Friendship?" Tirek asked.

"Yeah," I said. "You didn't tell them about it, Cozy? I know you read it while you went to the School of Friendship."

"At that point, it was the last thing I cared about," Cozy responded.

"Well, I don't see a problem with that," Tirek said. "Chrysalis?"

"I don't mind," Chrysalis agreed.

"As Leo said, I read the Journal of Friendship before," Cozy admitted. "But I can't remember much."

"Then it's settled. We'll go to the library," I proclaimed. "We'll just need to look for it... how hard could it be?"

Then I saw the long hallway filled with doors.

"Very hard," Cozy mumbled.



...

...



CREEEEAAAAAK

"Guys, I found it," I called out.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow grouped up to the door I stood at. The whole room was filled with book-filled shelves, with a few tables, chairs, and beanbag chairs resting on the floor.

"Either Twilight left these books here, or Starlight re-stocked," Cozy said.

"I guess looking for the Journal of Friendship could be another way to pass the time," Tirek chuckled.

Without a word, I headed into the room, and began to search the bottom shelf. I heard flying and stomping, so I could tell the others were searching as well.

For several minutes, we pulled books out of the shelf. I didn't find anything of interest.

 Then I pulled a book and saw the title, which read:

Interdimensional Travel: Functions and Worlds

I opened the very thick book and went straight to the contents. Some chapters seemed interesting to me. The first one I went to was Chapter 2: Examples of Galaxies.

I felt like my own galaxy was in there. I was curious. And a tiny chunk of me was hoping for information.

Then I found it.

The Milky Way Galaxy actually had the honor to be put into this book.

I went back to the contents and saw the other chapter. I flipped to Chapter 7: Links. I began my search for something important. Something caught my eye.

How long links last: Usually, links to other worlds last for one week. However, how long it takes for the links to open again is unknown and highly random. It could take weeks, months, or even years.

"I found it!" I heard Cozy chirp. I turned my head back and saw her floating down, carrying the book.

Chrysalis and Tirek made their way to Cozy and grouped around her. They looked at me.

"Come on over," Chrysalis invited. "Would you like to read with us?"

"I may not return home for years, won't I?" I asked in a melancholy tone.

"What?" Tirek raised his brow.

"This stupid book..." I muttered. "I may not return for weeks, months, or years! Even if my friends and family do believe that I've been trapped in another world, who knows how long it would be until I come back?"

"Leo, it will be fine," Chrysalis assured.

"Really?" I sputtered. "I've been ripped from my home because of some stupid ram! Oh sure, you all lost something too, but you were evil at the time and my home is in another world!"

I plopped onto my haunches.

"I've been away from family before," I admitted. "But the maximum time was nearly a week. I may be here for months!"

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy had no words. But then Cozy put the book down and came over to me.

"Well, until then..." Cozy began before she sat down and leaned her head on me. "...you have us."

Chrysalis and Tirek came over to me as well.

I chuckled. "Out of all the beings here who would possibly live with me and encourage me..." I began. "I've never thought it would be you three."

"Life is weird, isn't it?" Tirek asked.

"This whole place is weird..." Chrysalis mumbled. "But it's my home."

"Amen," I agreed. I suddenly realized something. "Hey, when I transformed, were my clothes left behind?"

"No," Cozy answered. "When you transformed, your clothes changed with you."

"I suddenly feel-" I was cut off when a hazel glow suddenly covered my forehead. "Ok, I'm not doing this!"

A brief white flash of light suddenly burst and something flew from my forehead to the ground.

"What's that?" Chrysalis asked.

I went over and used my magic to pick up the object.

"My phone," I replied. "It was in my pocket when I transformed. I guess my body rejected it, but it took awhile for it to do so."

"Well, it doesn't have any organic DNA," Tirek explained.

"True," I agreed. "I'll just set this aside for later."

I levitated my phone and set it on the table.

"Well, phones that have nothing to do with the story aside..." Chrysalis began. "I think we should give this journal a look-see."

I went back as Chrysalis levitated the book.

"By the way, I know some of the reasons these entries were written," I explained. "So get ready for some nerdy-me moments."

We opened the book, but the first thing we saw was a photo of younger Twilight and her friends... along with many other younger versions of her friends. It looked like the photo from the season 7 intro of the show.

"Those are her friends... huh," Chrysalis said.

"You know... the group consisting of Twilight Sparkle and her five other friends had a name," I pointed out.

"What is it?" asked Tirek.

"The Mane 6."

"Not a bad name," admired Chrysalis.

"Hey, if the four of us are gonna hang out all the time, what should our name be?" asked Cozy.

"The Legion of Friendship?" suggested Tirek.

"How about we make this easy and this group any name we desire," I suggested. "I'll call us the ‘New Mane 4.’"

"Please, we're not Twilight and her friends," Chrysalis said.

"Well you three did save Equestria, with me playing only a minor part," I replied. "Besides, even though others played their part in beating Grogar, they don't live here. If any of them move here, they could join us."

"It's not like we have a campaign for who gets to join and not join our nonexistent group," said Cozy.

"Let's not argue about this," Tirek said. "Let's just enjoy our time together."

"Yes," Chrysalis purred, leaning into Tirek and blushing. "Let's enjoy it."

I gave Cozy Glow a look.

"I'll explain later," she told me.

"I think I have a feeling," I said looking at Tirek and Chrysalis while Chrysalis' peach face turned red.




Night...




It was now the end of my first day as an alicorn.

The day was pretty quick. Apparently it was only five minutes until noon when I woke up, giving me only five minutes of the morning. After I read the Journal of Friendship with the three reformed villains, it was already an hour since I woke up. For the rest of the day, we bonded, played card games, and I even used the last amount of juice on my phone to tell them how it works, before we all took a selfie. How I’ll charge it and get the internet will be a whole other mystery. Maybe with magic. If I can go from one world to the next, I can charge a simple phone.

I even wrote a letter to Princess Twilight, introducing myself and telling her that I hoped to meet her at some point after Equestria's entire population gets back on their hooves/claws. Though without a magic dragon like Spike or a pony like Derpy to send out the mail, I had to settle with holding off until the next day.

"Someday..." I whispered, staring at the dark ceiling on my bed. "I will go home... and remember... but in the meantime... just put the worries aside. And enjoy my time here while it lasts."

And so I closed my eyes and let sleep take over.




...




I woke up, finding myself back in my house. I felt the mixture of disappointment in my heart as I looked over my body and found everything back to the way it was. Except for my clothes. I was wearing shorts and no shirt.

"Well, that sucks..." I muttered. "But at least I'm home."

I got off my bed, and for some reason, rubbed my eyes. But when I took my arms off, they were different. Now, they were green logs with marshmallow-like hooves.

Then I saw my body and it was the way it was before. The body of an alicorn.

That's when I realized I couldn't stand on my hind legs.

I fell backwards, landing on the bed, wings splayed out.

Oddly, the bed felt like it had no sheets.

I lifted my head and the room was completely empty.

I turned my head to look at the bed and every sheet, pillow, blanket, and plush was gone.

"What the-"

I was cut off when a gaping hole suddenly opened underneath where I lay on the bed. I felt something pull me in.

I screamed as I fell through the mysterious chasm of darkness.

Then I stopped, and the whole landscape swirled. It changed into a swirly, turquoise landscape with white stars.

I felt my body land itself on the ground.

I looked up and saw a white sphere of light flutter down, expanding.

As soon as the light was large enough, I could see a figure in it. The light faded.

And Princess Twilight Sparkle herself stood before me.

"P-Princess?" I bowed. "Is that really you?"

"It's nice to finally see you awake," Twilight smiled.

"So... you saw me when I was out?" I asked, getting up.

"Yes," she answered. "And don't worry. I'm searching for any other spells that can turn you back into a human. If I don't find any, I'll just retry the previous spell."

"Princess..." I began. "How long will I be here?"

Princess Twilight's encouraging smile turned into a frown.

"I don't know," she said.

I lowered my head. But an armored hoof reached under my chin and lifted my head up.

"I promise you will return home," Princess Twilight said. "Just try to fit in. And try your best to hide your wings when you go out."

"Oh, right," I looked at my wings. "I'm an alicorn that's a guy."

"Yeah," Twilight chuckled.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"If you want, I can make it so you feel encouraged, and at home," Princess Twilight said. "That is, if you want."

I held up a hoof. "I wouldn't mind in the slightest."

And so Twilight lit her horn.

I opened my eyes.

And I was back in my room. In my body.

"Better enjoy it while it lasts..." I muttered, leaving my dream-room.



...

...



I slowly opened my eyes, once again meeting the sight of the castle room. Using my new magic, I moved the covers away from my body and hopped off the bed.

I looked outside.

I saw ponies, along with other creatures, froliking in the streets.

There was a large crowd.

I went to the mirror and looked back in the mirror. I again saw my very nappy hair. I had an idea.

I went downstairs in search of the Cutie Map room. I assumed Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were there.

It took minutes, and a lot of steps, but I soon found the large room. It took a lot quicker to find it than I thought.

"Good morning, Leo," Chrysalis greeted.

"Hey, do you know where I can get hair gel?" I asked.

"Hair gel?" Tirek raised his brow. "What for?"

"I don't want to spend my time here with a nappy mane," I explained.

"Actually, when I went to the bathroom, I found a bottle of gel," Cozy exclaimed. "This place has everything! Even though Twilight moved out years ago!"

"Oookaaay... instead of pondering why there is gel here, I'll just go to the bathroom and give my mane a new style," I said before turning around and leaving the room. "Be back in a few."

"Alright," I heard Cozy call out as I left the room.




Minutes Later...




Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek all turned their heads to me as I entered the room.

My mane was no longer flat, unkempt, and knappy. Instead, it stood up, my horn and ears poking out.

How did I do it? I (carefully) trimmed the hair growing around my ears and horn with scissors, before using the gel to completely restyle my mane. I also trimmed a chunk of hair that hung off the side of my head, making it shorter but still longer.

"I know, I know, it looks silly..." I said as I walked in. "But I couldn't resist! I always drew myself with three spikes for hair, so I took the chance."

"Hey, it's your mane," Cozy shrugged. "You do what you want."

I took a seat.

"So we have more ponies and creatures out in the open today," I said.

"Really?" Cozy queried. "I guess we won't have to be bored any longer..."

"We don't always have to go outside for entertainment," I told her.

"I'm just a kid," she shrugged.

We laughed.

Although yesterday didn't feel like much of an adventure or a hypothetical first episode, something told me that I was gonna have a heck of a time here.

And that things would get better.

END OF EPISODE