A New Life

by TwilightLuna


Chapter 6 - Lunch and Revelations

“This isn’t Twilight’s library. This is.....my apartment. I-I’m back home! But how?”

Spike?
Twilight?

Andrew tried to get his bearings as he slowly picked himself off the floor. Still feeling a little groggy, he stumbled a bit before grabbing the coffee table to catch himself. 

Alright. Alright. There has to be a rational explanation for all of this. But what is it? Am I dreaming or is this real?

Andrew pinched the skin on his arm and flinched. "Ow, ow. Okay, I'm definitely awake." He felt his phone in his pocket and pulled it out. Tapping the screen, it said 11:46 Saturday September 3rd.  It's almost noon on Saturday. Was I passed out all night?

*knock knock knock*

"Right. The door."

Andrew took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down before walking to the front door. Without even thinking, he unlocked the door and opened it. Normally, he would have checked to see who it was first but his mind was still trying to process what was going on. Had he simply blacked out that night or had it all been real? If it had all been a dream, it was the craziest and most real one he ever had. 

"Well, are you going to let us in or what?" Asked a familiar voice.

"Mom, is it really you?" Andrew couldn't believe that she and the rest of his family was standing at his door. He quickly grabbed his mother in a tight hug. Feeling her return the hug, helped confirm to Andrew that she was indeed really there. But did I really go to Equestria?

"Well, of course it is. Who else would it be, dear?" His mom chuckled as she released her son and ruffled his brown hair, much to Andrew's annoyance.

"W-What are you all doing here?" Andrew asked, still very confused. He was still trying to make sense out of what's going on.

"You can blame me for that. I told mom and dad that we should visit you." Katherine chimed in with a grin on her face. "What took you so long to answer your door by the way?"

"I was..uh...in the bathroom. Yeah, it was a real emergency." Andrew thought of a response quickly.

"Sure. What's her name?" Katherine teased while she and their parents walked inside and closed the door behind them.

"There's no one here except me. Alright, Kat?" Andrew responded, rolling his eyes.

"Sure thing, Andy." She responded jokingly. 

Both siblings turned to stare at each other for a few moments until their serious faces broke into grins and then laughter as they hugged each other. 

"Alright you two, knock it off.” The two separated so that Andrew’s dad could give him a hug. “It’s good to see you, kiddo. Did you get that book I sent you?”

"Yeah dad, it arrived in the mail the other day.” Andrew released his dad and gave him a puzzled look. “But didn't you get that book from grandpa?" 

His father nodded and smiled back at his son. "That’s right but I thought that you should have it. He gave it to me when I was about your age and I know how much you love history. So, I thought that you should have it. Just promise me that you'll take care of it. Alright?" 

"Thanks dad, I'll take really good care of it." 

“That’s all I ask. By the way, I've got dibs on the bathroom. Man, that was a long drive." Andrew’s dad patted him on the shoulder before he disappeared down the hallway.

"Come on, I've gotta tell you the great news." Katherine grabbed Andrew by the arm to drag him into another room.

"Ow, ow. Stop pulling so hard. You're going to pull my arm out of its socket." 

"Oh, stop being such a baby." Katherine chortled.

"Hey, I'm a few years older than you. That makes you the baby." Andrew retorted while rubbing his sore arm.

"Whatever. Anyway, next month, I start working at the animal shelter. I'm so excited!" Katherine jumped up and down.

Andrew chuckled and shook his head at his sister's exuberance. She was always full of energy even when they were younger. "That's fantastic news! Is that why you got your haircut?" 

"Do you like it? I figured I would try a new look for the new job." Katherine ran her hand through her shorter brunette hair that now ran to just above her shoulders. "What about you? You're not still working for that software company are you?"

Andrew turned away from his sister before responding half heartedly. "Yeah, what about it? It pays well. That's all that matters."

"I don't know why you're still working there. You need to get out there and try something else." Katherine glanced to her side and saw the piles of books sitting on the desk. Her voice became more stern. "You need to find a job that you actually like. And I've told you before, get your nose out of these books and make some friends."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You've told me this before like a billion times." Andrew rolled his eyes. 

"Hey, I'm just looking out for my little brother." Katherine smiled back.

"Katherine, can I ask you something? Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you swore that you were still awake?" Andrew hoped that his sister didn't think that he was crazy. There were still some things that were nagging him. What happened in the park? How did he get to his apartment and end up passed out on his living room floor?

"You mean like people who have lucid dreams? Why, did you have one?"

"Well, I.." Before he could continue, Andrew was interrupted by a knock at the door

"And what are you two talking about?" Their dad stood at the doorway.

"Nothing, dad. Just brother and sister stuff." Katherine rolled her eyes. 

"Well, do you want to go out and get something to eat?" Their father asked.

"Actually, I'm not feeling that great. How about we make something up here? I should have something that we can whip together." Andrew responded. 

"Alright, if that's what you want." His father shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you help your mother in the kitchen then?"

They left the room and followed their father to the kitchen. "Hey, you still owe me $15."

"Yeah, yeah." Andrew replied, playfully punching his sister in the arm.

Andrew and Katherine joined their mother in the kitchen and helped make some sandwiches and heat up some soup. Something else that was bothering Andrew was that he clearly remembers talking with his mom on the phone that night at the park. He also remembered what he said to her before he hung up. Maybe she didn't hear what I said or she's already forgotten about it. Maybe I should at least say something.

"Hey mom?" 

"Yes dear?" His mother looked away from the pot of soup momentarily as she was stirring it.

"Well, I wanted to say that I was sorry for what I said when you called last night. It was uncalled for." Andrew rubbed the back of his neck before he continued. "Look, I know that you only care but I wish that.."

"Andrew, dear. I really have no idea what you are talking about. I would certainly remember if I had you." She shook her head. "Alright, the soup is ready. So get some bowls out onto the table, please." 

She doesn't remember? How can that be? Something's not right. 

As they ate, Andrew couldn't help but notice that his mind kept going back to everything that he had done with Spike and Twilight. It still felt so real to him. "It felt so real." He muttered to himself, poking his food with his spoon. 

"What was so real, dear?" His mother asked between taking a bit from her sandwich.

"Oh..umm nothing, mom. Just a weird dream that I had. That's all." He took a bite of his sandwich but there was no flavor to it. It didn't taste like anything. The flavor, if it had any, was like that of a rice cake than anything else. He looked down at his sandwich and saw the lettuce, tomato, and bacon but he didn't taste any of those things. Suddenly, the sandwich in his hand started to get blurry, out of focus. Looking up from his hands, his parents and sister were becoming the same as well. He lifted his glasses to rub his eyes but it had no affect.

Shaking his head, he stood up and excused himself. "I-I'll be right back."

Something about all of this didn't feel right but he couldn't put his finger on it. Looking back at his family sitting at the table, nothing seemed out of place but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Suddenly, the voices of his parents and sister became more and more quiet until he couldn't hear anything that they were saying. Katherine had her hand to her mouth and let out a laugh about something but he couldn't hear anything coming from her. 

"Mom? Dad?" He shouted as walked back to the table. None of them made any indication that they could hear him. They didn't even react when he waved his hand in front of their faces. 

He placed his hand on his dad's shoulder but it went right through him. "What the hell?" Suddenly, everyone at the table melted away until he was alone.

"Wait! Come back!" Andrew shouted as he dropped to his knees and hung his head as a tear rolled down his cheek. Everything around him disappeared as well until everything faded to black. A few moments later, he was in a vast grassy field with a starry night sky. All he could hear was the wind blowing through the tall grass and his sniffling. Moments later, he thought that he heard something in the distance.  

"Alright, who's there? What's going on?" Andrew stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. He shouted his questions until he heard a voice coming from behind him. 

"So, it is true as my sister said." Said the voice.

Startled by the sudden voice, he turned around to see a pony slowly approaching him. Unlike Twilight and Rarity, this pony seemed to be about as tall as he was. It had a dark blue coat and a blue mane with a translucent blue border. The mane appeared to wave by itself against a nonexistent wind. Inside the mane looked like twinkling stars. Behind the horn on its head sat a black crown and around its neck was a neck piece with a crescent moon on it which matched the one on its flank. Adorning her hooves were shoes that sparkled in the moonlight. The pony's teal eyes gazed back at him with surprise and concern.

Andrew examined the pony in front of him further. He remembered that Twilight had explained to him the differences between the pony races but this pony had both a horn and a pair of wings.  She must be of a different species than the other ponies.
  
Andrew gave the pony a puzzled look. "I'm sorry but who are you?" 

"Oh, we..I apologize. I'm still not fully accustomed to socializing with others after my banishment for so long." She paused before unfurling a pair of elegant wings before the human.  "I am Princess Luna but you can call me Luna. My sister told me that Twilight had discovered a human but I did not believe it to be so."

"A Princess?" Andrew had read enough history books to know what would happen if respect wasn't shown to royalty. He immediately knelt to the ground. "I didn't mean any disrespect, your highness."

Luna lifted a foreleg and waved it from side to side, "Please, my friend. There's no need to kneel before us. Please rise."

Andrew let out a sigh of relief and rose to his feet. "So this was all a dream and I was never home, right?" Andrew asked. He pinched his arm but he didn't feel anything. "Very strange..."

"I'm afraid so. You are simply dreaming. I am using my power so that we can communicate." Luna replied. "Am I to assume that was your family?" Luna inquired. 

Andrew nodded. "That's right. Those were my parents and my sister."

"I am sorry. I know all too well what it is like to be away from one's family." The guilt and shame of what she did as Nightmare Moon still ran deep inside her but she vowed every day to make up for her past misdeeds. 

Andrew could hear a tint of sadness in Luna's remark but he thought it best not to pry and decided to change the subject. "What is this place? I've never seen anything like it. Everything feels so real."

"This is the dreamscape. From here, I can view the dreams of all of the ponies in Equestria. From here, I can protect them from their nightmares."

"So, why did you visit my dream?" 

"We wanted to see if what my sister said was true about a human returning to Equestria. Twilight Sparkle is an intelligent and resourceful unicorn but she wouldn't know what a human looks like but my sister and I would."

"Wait a minute. You're saying that humans have been to Equestria before?" Andrew couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

Luna closed her eyes and turned away for a moment. She felt a swell of sadness that she did not want to show in front of the human. For her, it had been over a thousand years since it happened but she couldn't talk about it to anypony, except her sister. After a few moments, she let out a sigh and nodded before answering. "That is correct. It was a very long time ago but I'm afraid that this isn't the time or place to discuss it. My sister will be raising the sun soon. So our time is almost up I'm afraid. We will see each other again. Farewell."

Luna melted into the background and disappeared as everything faded to black. This last thing Andrew saw were her glowing eyes, watching him.


Andrew opened his eyes to the chirping of the birds outside. The dream was still vivid in his mind, his family and Princess Luna. "What the hell was that all about?" He muttered to himself. Seeing his family again weighed heavily on him. Even though it was a dream, it was good seeing them again. 

Looking over at the alarm clock, it said 7:25. Spike and Twilight were still asleep in their beds. For several minutes, Andrew tried to go back to sleep but with no luck. Finally giving up, he resigned his fate of getting up and got out of bed. Putting his clothes back on, he slowly made his way downstairs, being careful not to wake the pony and dragon. 

To pass the time, he decided to look at the various books Twilight had in her collection until one caught his eye, 'The Tale of the Two Sisters'. Looking through the book, he noticed a picture of the two sisters. The one looked like the pony from his dream. "Could that have been her?" He asked himself.

'Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestira, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land....' Andrew read intently until he heard hoofsteps and feet coming down the stairs. He looked up and saw Twilight and Spike. 

"Good morning you two."

"Good morning, Andrew. I'm surprised to see you up so early this morning. Is everything alright?" Twilight asked with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a weird dream and couldn't fall back asleep, that's all." Andrew closed the book. "So, I came down here to do some reading. I hope you don't mind but I found this book on your shelf and decided to give it a try."

"Oh, not at all. You can help yourself to my books whenever you want. Which one is it? Did you like it?" Twilight asked, intently. 

"It's pretty good so far. It's about two pony sisters that ruled over Equestria." Andrew held up the book so they could see it.

"That's the story of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I like that story." Twilight looked at the book and then back to the human. "May I ask what made you pick out that one?"

Andrew scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not really sure. I could have something to do with my dream last night. Someone called Princess Luna appeared and talked to me."

"Princess Luna visited you in your dream?" Twilight was surprised that Luna would visit the dreams of the human.

"Yeah. She told me something really strange though." Andrew looked at his hands folded on his lap before continuing. He didn't feel like telling Twilight about the other part of his dream just yet. Not that he didn't trust her, he didn't feel like talking about it at the moment. "She said that humans have been to Equestria before, a long time ago."

"They have? I wonder why they are not mentioned in any of the history books. If they were here, then what happened to all of them?”

"That’s a good question, Twi. Maybe they are but just not in the ones that just anypony would have access to, Twilight." Spike chimed in.

"You could be right, Spike. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been around for thousands of years. I'm sure they must know something about what happened. Though I wonder why she never told me about these humans before." Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof.

"I don't know but I'm sure there is a reason why. Something must have happened to them since they aren't around anymore."

"If you ask the Princess, I'm sure that she will tell you, Twilight."

"I wrote a letter to her the other day about Andrew but I haven't heard back from her."

"Oh, Luna said that two of them were searching for a way to send me home. Perhaps she's just been too busy to reply back to you."

"That could be it, I'm sure. She is busy ruling over Equestria after all." Twilight said.

"Luna did mention something that I didn't pick up on at the time. She said something about being banished for a long time. Do you know what that's all about?"

Twilight and Spike looked at each other before turning back to the human. "It's a long story that started about a 1,000 years ago." Twilight used her magic to open the book to the appropriate section.

"I'll start making breakfast while you explain everything to him, Twi." Spike offered.

"Thanks, Spike." Twilight smiled at the dragon.

"Good luck, dude. You're gonna need it." Spike whispered to Andrew, before snickering and making his way to the kitchen.

Twilight rolled her eyes and groaned as Spike left, causing Andrew himself to chuckle. 

While Spike was in the kitchen, Twilight explained to the human how Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and her banishment to the moon by Princess Celestia. Andrew listened intently as Twilight told him how she had learned about Nightmare Moon's return and how she and her friends found the elements of harmony and used them to turn Princess Luna back to good. She also described some of their adventures together while learning about friendship. Andrew had many questions about Twilight's friends and the Princesses which Twilight was more than happy to answer. A little while later, Twilight and Andrew decided it was time for breakfast and made their way to the kitchen. 

"Your friends sound like great people..er..I mean ponies. I've already met Rarity and she was very generous. I guess that's why she got the element of generosity." Andrew remarked.

"They really are. I don't know what I'd do without them. Ever since I started learning about friendship, I couldn't imagine my life without my friends. They're very important to me." 

After having omelets for breakfast, Andrew took a shower and went upstairs to get dressed. Downstairs, Spike and Twilight were going through the stacks of books that were spread out everywhere.

"What are you two doing?" Andrew asked as he walked down the stairs.

"Oh good, you're all cleaned up. Spike and I are just cleaning things around here after all that researching I was doing. I haven't had a chance to put any of these books back yet." Twilight said while putting books back on the shelf where they belonged. 

Andrew looked around at all the piles of books everywhere, some were as tall as he was. He hadn't realized how much Twilight had actually done for him, for a complete stranger. Helping her clean everything up was the least that he could do.

"Where can I start?" He asked as he grabbed a couple books from a pile. Suddenly, those books were surrounded in a purple magical field which pulled them from his grasp.

Twilight looked at the human and shook her head, "Oh no no no. I couldn't ask you to help clean up. You're our guest. It just wouldn't feel right."  

Andrew placed a hand on her shoulder. "Twilight, you've done so much for me already. You've let me stay in your home and tried finding a way to send me home. There's no way I could ever repay you for that. Please let me do this for you."

"Well, if you're sure. Thanks!" Twilight's face brightened with a smile.

After a few minutes of cleaning, Spike grabbed a scroll off of the table and opened it. His eyes shot open as he read the scroll's contents. His voice sounded like he was really worried about something. "Uh, Twilight?"

"Yes Spike?" Twilight responded while levitating some books onto their proper positions on the shelves. 

"Umm..You didn't happen to forget about something happening today, did you?" Spike asked nervously while looking between the scroll and the lavender pony.

"Hmmm....not that I can think of." Twilight shook her head and used her magic to pull the calendar off the wall. After reading it for a few moments, she let out a gasp. "The lunch! I totally forgot!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, momentarily startling Andrew and Spike. She turned around and grabbed the piece of parchment from Spike's hands and paced back and forth while she read it to herself. 

"Uh Spike, what's got Twilight so freaked out?" Andrew asked.

"You mean Twilight didn't tell you?"

Andrew shook his head at the dragon.

Spike sighed and continued. "Can't say I'm surprised since she's been so busy lately. She invited our friends over for lunch today so that they could meet you. That's a checklist of everything that she needs to do before they get here. She gets like this every time she forgets something."

The lavender pony stopped her pacing and addressed both of them in a frantic voice. "We still need to finish cleaning, go to the market to get food, and make lunch for everypony. There isn't enough time to get everything done. Oh, why did I forget about this."

Andrew had worked under pressure before and knew keeping a level head is what they needed. He knelt down to Twilight's level and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to gasp and look up at him. "Look at me Twilight, it'll be alright. You keep working on these books while Spike and I will go to the market and make the food. Sounds like a plan?"

Twilight was surprised that Andrew was taking charge and helping her out. "Are..are you sure?"

Andrew smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Absolutely. Spike and I have got this. Plus, I'm no stranger around the kitchen."

The human and dragon got together and devised a game plan and left for the market to get everything that they needed. Andrew wasn't sure what Twilight's friends liked to eat, so he let Spike decide what to get. A little while later, they arrived back with bags of food in their hands. Once they got to the kitchen, they started cooking.
 
"Alright Spike, I'll get started on these sandwiches while you get those cookies baked." Andrew said while he started prepping the vegetables for the sandwiches. "What kind did you say they were again? "

"My famous triple-decker, nut-crazy vanilla-cream cookies." Spike responded proudly, folding his arms.

Andrew drooled at the description of the cookies. "That sounds really good."

"Hehe. Just wait till you taste them." Spike grinned at the human before giving him a more serious look. "Thanks for helping Twilight with this by the way. I'm sure she really appreciates it."

"No problem. It's the least that I can do, Spike." Andrew smiled back at the dragon as he was cutting the vegetables. "So, how many ponies are coming over?"

"Let's see..umm..five." Spike responded after using his claws to count. 

"Five huh? That doesn't seem too bad." Andrew breathed a sigh of relief and went back to his task.

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about. They'll like you. You'll see." Spike said, looking up from the mixing bowl as he finished mixing the ingredients together. He placed a batch in the oven, closed the door, and set the timer. "Need any help with those?"

"No, I think I'm just about done actually." Andrew replied, turning his head to the dragon. 

Spike walked over and looked at all the sandwiches Andrew had made. His eyes got big and his mouth opened with drool coming out. "Those look great. Everypony will love those. Now, I know what Twilight and Fluttershy's favorites are. So, I'll show you how to make them."

"Alright." 


After much cleaning, sorting, and baking, there were a few knocks at the front door which startled Spike from his dusting. "Coming!" Spike ran down the stairs, still wearing his pink apron and carrying a feather duster. Opening the door, the dragon was greeted by his pony friends. "Hello ladies. Oh..uh..Hi Rarity." Spike blushed while waving at her.

"Hi'ya Spike. So ummm, where is the 'special guest' of y'alls anyway?" Applejack asked as she walked inside. She kept turning her head like she was expecting something dangerous to leap out.

"Oh, he's still in the kitchen and Twilight is upstairs." Spike pointed upward with a claw.

"As I told you before, Applejack, you have nothing to worry about. He was very friendly with me and Sweetie Belle yesterday." Rarity remarked, trying to alleviate her friend's concerns.

The four mares trotted upstairs and saw their best friend reading a book. They shook their heads knowing what a bookworm their friend was but they still loved her regardless.

"They're here, Twilight!" Spike shouted to the floor above.

"I can see that Spike." Twilight let out a chuckle before addressing her friends. "Girls, thank you for coming. I want you to meet my guest. He's a long way from home and he has been staying here for the past couple days. His appearance may be a little strange but there's no need to be afraid."

A few moments later, footsteps could be heard coming upstairs. The said human came up the stairs carrying a tray of food. 

"Alright Spike. That's the last of them." Andrew placed the tray of food on the table next to the other food they had prepared. Turning away from the table, he saw what he assumed was Twilight's friends standing there, staring at him. 

Twilight smiled at Andrew and waved her hoof at her friends. "Andrew, these are my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy."  

The four mares stopped in their tracks and stared at the human, all except for Rarity who had already met him. The others didn't know what to make of the strange creature in front of them.

Rarity rolled her eyes and shot a glare over at her friends, "Girls, really? There's no reason to be so rude to our guest." 

Andrew was getting a little nervous with all of them staring at him. So, he decided to break the ice. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps closer to them and introduced himself to the mares.

"Hi, my name is Andrew. It's nice to meet all of you." He waved at each of Twilight's friends. 

"Well, Ah'll be."Applejack stared at the human before shaking her head and holding her hat over her chest. "Name's Applejack. Nice to make yer acquaintance, Andrew."

"Nice to meet you as well, Applejack." Applejack placed the hat back on her head and extended her hoof which Andrew shook. 

Andrew released her hoof and looked to the yellow pegasus sitting next to Applejack but a little behind her. Flutteryshy slowly walked over next to her friends. She had been hanging back to see how this creature would react to her friends.

"Um..excuse me. Umm..Twilight said that you were far away from home. Is that right?" Fluttershy asked in a quiet yet soft voice. She looked at the human from behind her pink mane. 

"That's right." Andrew replied to the yellow pony.

Fluttershy looked at the human before trotting up to him and placing a hoof on his leg. "Oh you poor thing. I couldn't imagine being away from home and my furry friends."

Twilight turned her head and looked around the room, "Wait, where's Pinkie? She was just here a moment ago. Where did she-"

"Hello!" A pink pony jumped out from behind the sitting chair, startling the human. She bounced around until she stopped in front of him. She had a poofy mane and tail, almost like cotton candy, and there were three balloons on her flank. The pony's two overly-large blue eyes just stared at him as she bounced up and down. 

"So this is where you've been. I've been looking everywhere for you. Well not everywhere or I would have found you already, duh. Mrs. Cake said that Twilight had come in with a strange looking creature that she's never seen before. I knew then that it had to do with my body shuddering earlier that day meaning that something you never expect to happen is going to happen. Whatever it is, it's a doozy. I know everypony and I mean everypony, in Ponyville. So, that means you are new here which is so exciting! I'm Pinkie Pie and I'm going to throw you a par-Mmfph..."

A hoof from Rarity came over the hyperactive pony's mouth but she kept talking. "That's quite enough, Pinkie Pie. I think the poor thing has got the idea." 

Suddenly there was a booming sound of something coming through the front door, startling everyone. A blur of rainbow colors shot up the stairs and over everyone's heads. A wind followed behind it, messing up hairs and manes of everyone present. Rarity let out a shriek and whimper as she noticed her mane was no longer up to her marvelous standards. She busied herself styling it back to her satisfaction.

Andrew starred as the rainbow blur shot around the room until it stopped in front of him.

"Sorry I'm late, everypony. I was busy practicing some new awesome tricks for the Wonderbolts and lost track of time." Rainbow Dash flicked her main before taking a moment to look the unfamiliar creature up and down. "So are you supposed to be that thing that everypony in town is talking about? What in the hay are you supposed to be anyway?"

"Really Rainbow Dash, there's no need to be so rude. Our guest here has a name." Rarity chided her cyan-colored friend. "I must apologize for my friend here. Sometimes she leaves her manners in the clouds."

"Alright, alright. Where did you come from anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, you see I.." Andrew started before he was cut off by the pink pony.

"Oh, I know! He's from another world where everyone looks like him and everycreature like us can't talk. He touched a magic glowing thingy that sucked him inside. It then sent him crashing through the sky where he landed outside." She took a big breath before continuing. "Right?"  

Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie dumbfounded. "Wait, how did you know all that?" Andrew asked, confused how the pink pony knew so much about what happened.

The pink pony just shrugged her shoulders non-nonchalantly, "Ehh, just a hunch." She ended with a big smile before hopping away. The other ponies just smiled and shook their heads. 

"W-What was that all about?" Andrew gestured towards Pinkie with his thumb. 

Twilight held her hoof to her mouth and giggled. "First thing about living in Ponyville is don't try to figure out Pinkie Pie."

Andrew closed his eyes and shook his head before looking at the mares again. "Pinkie is pretty much right but perhaps I should start at the beginning." He proceeded to explain to the ponies everything he knew about how he arrived there, starting his normal day at work and coming home to finding a glowing sphere inside his apartment and then waking up in Twilight's house. "And that's all I can remember happening until I woke up here." He leaned back in the chair and took at sip from the cup of tea. 

The mares stared at him in disbelief. They were silent until Applejack broke the silence. "So yer say'n that yer from another world and everything you said was the truth?"

Andrew looked at the orange pony and nodded, "That's right."

"Another world huh? I guess that's kinda cool but not as cool as me." Rainbow Dash held a forehoof to her chest and chuckled before extending that hoof to Andrew. "Name's Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer in Equestria."

Andrew went to shake her hoof but gave her a hoof bump instead. "Nice to meet you too Rainbow Dash. I must say, that was quite an entrance you made. I've never seen anything move that fast before."

"I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" Rainbow Dash's boasting caused a few eye rolls and groans from the other ponies. She came to the ground, folding her wings to her sides and joined her friends.

Twilight looked at each of her friends and smiled, "Thank you for coming over and helping our guest feel welcome. I know that none of us would want to feel alone being away from our families."

"Sure thing Twi. Happy to help!" Applejack proclaimed. Her friends all smiled and nodded as well.

"Now let's eat!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie, bouncing around. 

Andrew followed the mares over to the tables that had been set up with a punch bowl, the sandwiches that he and Spike had made, as well as a salad. After waiting his turn, he grabbed a sandwich and an apple. On another table, there was a barrel with a tap was set up.

"What's in here?" He muttered to himself.

"Why that is mah family's apple cider. Give it a try." Applejack cheerfully replied and filled a mug of cider before handing it to Andrew.

Andrew grabbed the mug and lifted it to his lips and took a sip of the cold brew. After letting the rich flavor linger in his mouth, he determined that it was the best cider that he'd ever tasted. 

"This cider is amazing." Andrew took another sip.

"Well, thank ya kindly. Ah do appreciate a satisfied customer." Applejack bowed her head before raising it. "Now if only a certain Miss Rainbow Dash would let others have a taste as well."

"Hello. Umm..excuse me." A gentle voice came up from behind Andrew. The voice was soft enough that he wasn't startled by it. 

Andrew turned around and saw Fluttershy standing behind him. He knelt down to her level. "Well, hello there. I'm sorry, sometimes I am horrible with names. sometimes I wonder how I can remember my own." He chuckled lightly. "You're Fluttershy right?"

Fluttershy nodded from behind her pink mane. "Oh..umm...that's right. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're feeling better. That's all." She said before looking at the floor.

A puzzled look came across the human's face as he tried to determine what she was referring to. "Umm..thanks. What do you mean?" Andrew responded, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh that's right." Twilight appeared behind the two of them and chimed in. "I forgot to tell you that the night you arrived here, I went to get Fluttershy came by and have her look after you. Since I don't know much about medicine or human physiology for that matter. I thought that she would be best to make sure you were alright."

"I didn't notice anything wrong except a bump on your head. So I told Twilight that you should be alright in the morning."

"Well, thank you Fluttershy. I appreciate it." Andrew went to place a hand on her shoulder but she backed away slowly.

"You're...umm..welcome." Fluttershy's cheeks blushed a little and she hid her face behind her mane again.

Andrew looked at Twilight, confused at the yellow mare's reaction to him.

"Don't worry about her. She's just shy around new ponies. Give her time." Twilight remarked.

Andrew nodded. "It's fine. I know what it's like to be around new people. In this case for me, it would be ponies."

Andrew sat down on the couch with his food and drink. For the next hour or so, he answered their questions about his world and what he did there. Rarity was curious about human fashion and what they wore. Twilight had more questions about science and discoveries that humans had made. Rainbow Dash didn't seem that interested. She was more interested in the food and chatting with Pinkie Pie. The more he talked with them and saw them interact with each other, the less he saw them as animals. They, especially Twilight, were curious about things, and even had hopes and dreams. 

"Hey Pinkie Pie! How about saving some of those cookies for everypony else?!" Rainbow Dash shouted as the pink party pony enlarged her mouth to a much larger size and proceeded to tip the entire tray of cookies over into her mouth. The empty tray landed on the table with nothing but cookie crumbs and bits of chocolate. 

Pinkie chewed and swallowed the contents of the tray before replying to the blue pegasus, "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I'm sure Spike made more. Riiiiiiight?" Against all laws of nature, Pinkie extended her neck till her head was next to Spike's 

Spike turned his head to see Pinky's face grinning back at him. This startled and almost made him spill his drink. "AAHH! Geez, Pinkie. You scared me half to death." Spike took several gasps of air until he regained his normal breathing pattern. 

"Hey Rainbow Dash, don't worry, there's another batch in the kitchen. I'll go grab it." Andrew chuckled as he went down to the kitchen. 

A few moments later, Andrew came back upstairs and watched the ponies interact with each other. For the briefest of moments, Andrew forgot where he was. The ponies around him finally seemed like real people and not just talking animals. They didn't judge him or treat him differently, not like the people back home would. He grabbed the tray of cookies and walked out of the kitchen to join Twilight's friends. Just as he arrived back into the room, Spike made a loud belching noise.

Andrew looked over to Spike's direction to see what was going on, only to see a trail of green smoke appear from the young dragon's mouth. Out of the smoke, appeared a rolled up scroll with a seal on it. Twilight caught it with her magic.

"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight chirped as she opened and read the letter from her mentor.

My dearest and most faithful student, 

I must thank you for the report on your guest. His species has been known to me and my sister. As for sending him home, I would like to discuss that with the two of you directly. I will be there shortly to explain everything.

Princess Celestia