Christopher stared at who he thought was talking to him, but he was trying his best to convince himself otherwise. He held his bag a little closer to his chest, catching his breath.
Standing in front of him was a large purple horse, who stood nearly as tall as him. But it was very, very different from any other animal. It was purple, like lilac or wisteria, and its mane and tail were a deep blue, with a streak of pink and purple running along through it. It was waving, like wind was going through it, and it sparkled with little white stars. But the scariest part was their face. It wasn’t normal or life-like; it was like a cartoon come to life. Huge eyes and a warm smile. “I see, I think you’re a little lost aren’t you?” The horse giggled. Chris was dumbstruck, a fear lodged in the back of his throat. He tried saying something, but could only stammer and moved slightly back. The horse noticed this and frowned, bowing her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sure this is all very new for you. My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and right now you’re in a wonderful town called Ponyville.”
Christopher couldn’t help but blink and stare at her. Eventually he swallowed and sighed heavily. “R-right, this is uh, Ponyville. Yep. And how the heck can you talk? Where is this place? What happened to the train? Why c-” He stopped, realizing what she said and practically throwing himself to the floor.“P-princess Twilight Sparkle? Oh my gosh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you or something.” ‘Oh God, I hope I didn’t insult a damn royalty!’ Twilight giggled at him and waved her hoof.
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to act all formal with me. What’s your name, young man?”
“Um. It’s Chris, short for Christopher.” He raised his head and stood back up. At that, Twilight’s eyes lit up for a split second. She smiled and walked up to him, putting a hoof under his chin. She looked him over, studying his features while Chris just blushed from the attention.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. How did you end up at the train station here? I’m guessing coming here isn’t what you had in mind, huh Chris?” She said, letting go. Chris rubbed the back of his neck, and stared at the single passenger train car.
“It doesn’t make any sense. I was with my dad, we were getting ready to go on vacation and then everything just started…” Chris trailed off, feeling the pressure building up. His breathing was shaky, and he tried to not cry in front of the stranger. “I don’t know where I am or where my dad is, the whole train is gone and, I just. I don’t know, man.”
“Well, luckily you have me to help explain everything. Come on, I have the perfect place for you to stay at for the moment.” Twilight walked away, looking back and nudging him forward. Chris nodded, grabbed his stuff, and took a last look at the train before he joined her. They walked slowly, stopping a few times when Twilight had to talk to someone or when someone bowed. As they walked through town, the young man took in all the sights he could. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the breeze felt nice running through his hair. The town was very colorful, like everything was hand drawn. The grass and pathways felt soft under his feet. He looked around, seeing other horses walking and talking amongst themselves, even though he noticed some of the horses looked over in shock or whispered to each other when they saw him. Some had wings, a few had horns, but for the most part they seemed normal. Except each and one looked like a color wheel threw up on them.
“Um, Princess Twilight? What…are you guys?” He asked, nervously looking up at her. She laughed and ruffled his hair.
“We’re ponies. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns. And that’s not all. We welcome each and every creature to Equestria, big and small. You might recognize some of them from your home, too.” Almost on cue, a massive green animal rushed past them, flying past them. Chris turned around quickly, watching as they flew into the air and met some of the pegasi on top of the clouds. The had a huge tail and scales, and Chris could’ve swore that was a-
“Wh-what? Was that a-”
“Dragon, and yes it was. Dragons, hippogriffs, changelings, all living in harmony after so many years. Truly a sight to see. Are you hungry Chris?”
“Uh, yeah, I am. We didn’t get to eat yet.”
“Good. We’re almost there. See that building right ahead of us?” She pointed to a large multi story shop. It almost looked like a gingerbread house with a cupcake on top. The roof looked like it was made of cookies, with frosting holding it all together. Candy cane pillars leading to a pink door. A sign hung from the wall, with a large pink cupcake on it. “That’s Sugarcube Corner. They mostly have sweets and desert, but I made sure to bring a little something for you too. Come on in.”
They walked up to the door, both lowering their heads as not to hit the frame. A bell jingled, and from behind the counter, two ponies popped out from behind. One was a creamy colored pegasus, with a brown mane that spiked forward. The second was a more yellow-orange unicorn, and orange hair that looked similar to the first pony. Seeing the two customers walk in, they immediately smiled and hopped up in front of them.
“Well well, if it isn’t Ms. Princess Twilight Sparkle! So good to have you!” The stallion said, bowing. The mare popped up from her bow and smiled brightly.
“Wow, this really is a nice surprise! And who’s the new friend?” She said, looking over at Chris. Chris rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little nervous about these two.
“This is Christopher, he’s new to Ponyville.” The princess motioned to the two ponies. “Chris, this is Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. They’re in charge of Sugarcube corner after Carrot and Cup Cake retired. Is it okay if we order some drinks? A couple cherry sodas, please.” She placed a few golden coins in their hooves, who took them and went into their kitchen. Twilight nudged Chris over to a table, and they both sat. He soon discovered that the chair and table were much too small for a man like him, and blushed as he awkwardly sat on the floor instead. The princess chuckled and sat on the floor with him, as the two ponies brought their drinks. “There we go, all set. Now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions Christopher, but right now I ne-”
“I’m sorry, Princess Twilight, this is nice and all but I’m scared like hell.” Chris said, holding his hands and folding them together. The alicorn frowned. “I was just with my dad, and now I'm in some Picasso fantasy land. I just want to go home, I wanna see my dad again. I gotta make sure he’s okay.”
“Chris, I can assure you that your father is safe, the portal that you came through only affected you. You’re not the only human ever to come to Equestria, you know.” She said, smirking and sipping her own soda.
“What? You mean there’s other people here right now?”
“No, sorry. What I mean is that there used to be a human in Equestria. His name was Jinx, and he was a gentle soul, and so clever.” She laughed and leaned back. “The amount of high jinks he would get the 6 of us into was too many to count. More than once Princess Celestia would scold us after she herself got done laughing. Of course, we didn’t start calling him that until after the Trixie incident.” She sighed happily. “I wonder what he’s up to these days.”
“Gotcha. So, how did this other guy leave? You’re part unicorn, you can do spells and stuff, right?” Chris said, mentally hitting himself. ‘I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. What the hell.’ Twilight straightened herself upright, clearing her throat and put on the regal appearance once more.
“The truth is, we do have a portal that goes back to Earth, but it’s a little complicated. You didn’t happen to live in rural England, did you?” Chris blinked a few times, and shook his head. “That’s what I thought. The only other working portal right now leads to a high school in Canterlot City, a place very similar to our own Canterlot, and that’s in Europe. I believe humans named it after a place called Camelot. Human history is just as much fun as Equestrian history!” She exclaimed, clapping excitedly. Chris chuckled and nodded. “I digress. Now, we can get you back home, but unfortunately that portal doesn’t activate for another couple months, or at least until our spring is over.”
The young man nodded slowly, raising his hand. Twilight giggled and motioned him to continue. “Okay, question. So how come we never heard or discovered this place before. And why doesn’t the portal that brought me here activate until summer?”
Twilight smiled brightly. “Oh, but you have. How do you think legends of unicorns and pegasi and other creatures originated on Earth? We believe that humans a long time ago discovered a portal or two to our world, but I’ll get to that. So they made art and stories of the creatures they’ve seen. It’s purely coincidence that humans believed that stuff to be mythological. Now, the portals, or at the very least the one you came through, has to do with gravity and relativity of space-time. The equivalence principle is that the effects of gravity and acceleration are indistinguishable, and that accelerated motion c-” She stopped as she saw Chris’ dumbfounded expression. She blushed and chuckled. “Right. Um, gravity is the main reason. Here, it is spring, but back home it was autumn, correct?” He nodded. “When that happens, the gravity is so weak between our two worlds that it essentially makes a wormhole that connects us. Fascinating stuff, honestly.”
“Okay. Long story short, gravity is messy and that mess made me come here for another 3 months.”
“Basically, though it would be more fun to explain.” She grumbled. She popped up, looking at the clock at the wall, eyes widening. “And I wish I had more time to explain. I have to get back to the castle. Although…” She trailed off, looking at the human. “...it may be better if you come with me. Hope you like teleportation.” She smirked as her horn glowed a purple aura. He raised an eyebrow.
“Wait, what?”
A bright white flash filled the room, and the two disappeared.
Chris got back on his feet, rubbing his head and groaning. The major headache he received was ignored as the nausea hit him like a truck. He held his stomach and shook his head. “Wh-what was that?” He asked shakily.
“Sorry, teleportation has that effect for the first time. You’ll get used to it, don’t worry.”
“I doubt it, Princess.” He rubbed his eyes, and took a step back as he looked around. They were in a large pristine throne room, with a red carpet leading down. There was a large purple and gold throne, with a smaller one next to it. The walls and pillars were a subtle violet, and between the pillars that lined the walls were stained glass pictures that depicted many different creatures. The colors were vibrant and shone in all manners of beauty. Two small pools of water collected and flowed to the end of the hall, where a giant golden door resided. “Woah..” he said, breathless. “Is this your throne room?”
“That it is, Christopher. Come, I’m expecting a visitor at any moment now.” Twilight said, walking up the stairs and sitting on the main throne. She smiled and patted the seat next to her. He swallowed his nervousness and walked up the stairs, and politely sat down. “Normally, that is reserved for my trusted friend and ambassador Spike, but he’s making peace with the Diamond Dogs and Abyssnians. They’ve been at it like cats and dogs for a while now. Literally!” She giggled. Chris just chuckled and held his hands on his knees.
“Um, Princess? Why am I here exactly? I don’t think I’m ready for literally anything that you have planned.” Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Ever since I took over the School of Magic here in Canterlot, my focus has been on teaching magic. But my top student has unfortunately missed the most important lesson of all. A lesson I can only guess you may need as well.”
He didn’t have any time to question that as the doors cracked open, and a guard peeked from behind. It was a little hard to see from this distance, but Chris noticed the beak and claws, as well as the blue feathered wings. “Your majesty? She’s here.”
“Send her in, Gallus.”
He nodded, and swung open the other door. Rubbing her foreleg and with a worried smile was a pink pony, a unicorn with a flowing golden mane and tail that matched her eyes. She walked forward, keeping her head low as she approached. She stopped in front of the princess and bowed. “Your majesty.”
“Luster, I may be ruler of Equestria, but I am still only your teacher.”
Luster pawed the ground, looking down. “And you’ve been wonderful, I’ve enjoyed every moment at the School of Magic. But I’m not sure if it’s the right place for me.”
Twilight nodded and smiled. “I see.”
“B-but it’s not work! I could spend weeks in the library doing research. It’s just, there’s a lot of focus on making friends. And that’s the issue, I just don’t want to make friends.”
Chris was shocked. It was uncanny that he saw himself in Luster, just like the conversation he had with his dad only yesterday, but it seemed crazy to drop out of a school taught by a ruler of a country just because you didn’t want to make friends. “I don’t mean to interrupt or anything, but you’d seriously drop out of something so prestigious just because you don’t want to make a friend or too?” He asked, sitting forward. After seeing Twilight’s frown did he realize what he did, and quickly apologized. The unicorn looked over at him and half smiled, then turned back to Celestia.
“I was hoping I could set up an independent course of study. I still want to accomplish all that you have someday, but it looks like a distraction from my full potential as your student. And all that you did with your friends was so long ago, and now you rule by yourself. N-not that I think anything’s wrong with that, in fact I like it better! If friendships fade away with time, then what’s the point of making them to begin with.”
Chris sat back, rubbing his chin. Was that what Princess Twilight meant when she said it was a lesson he needed as well? He didn’t wait long as Twilight laughed, startling both the human and pony. She caught her breath, still chuckling and said “I remember when I thought the exact same way about friends in general.” She stood tall, her mane and tail still flowing. ‘Where’s the wind coming from?’ Chris thought to himself as Twilight flew down to meet her student, then looked over her shoulder. “Christopher, please join us.” He nodded and walked down with her. When he joined, he looked at Luster who was watching him. Blushing, he rubbed his neck and looked away. Being in a different world made you realize just how unnoticed you tend to be. “Luster Dawn, this is another student of mine. His name is Chris, and he will be joining us for the day.”
Luster Dawn looked Chris up and down, then smiled brightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Chris. I’m Luster Dawn, and I’m Princess Twilight’s top student at the School of Magic. Where are you from? I’ve never seen a creature like you before.”
Chris laughed nervously and pulled his shirt collar. “Oh, I’m from Earth. It’s a bit…farther north?” He glanced at Twilight for help, who smirked and shook her head, much to the teen’s dismay. “I’m a human, and I arrived in Ponyville earlier today. I’m not actually sure why I’m here with you guys, but might as well make the most of it right?”
“Huh, a human? I’ve never heard of them. Well if everyone’s as nice as you are, then it’s nice to meet one.”
“Well, there was a human here before Chris,” Twilight butt in, “but that was a long, long time ago. Actually, it all started when I first arrived in Ponyville, but that’s a story for another time, if you two are interested.” The two nodded enthusiastically, making Twilight giggle. “Very well. But right now we should have a few more visitors.”
As if on cue, the doors opened slowly, and in trotted five more ponies laughing and talking. One was a white unicorn, with a purple mane and tail, elegantly styled and with a singular grey streak running through it. She wore a navy blue fur coat adorned with gems and white tuft. Next was a pink pony, with an even more pink mane and tail that went all over the place, with confetti and candy stuck in it. Next to her was a yellow pegasus, with her pink mane tied behind with a blue flower ponytail. Chris wondered if it was still called a ponytail if it’s in their mane, but let it go. The last two were walking hoof in hoof, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow cut dressed in what looked like a flight jacket, holding the hoof an orange mare wearing a stetson and a scarf with apples. They all looked older than Luster or Princess Twilight, slight wrinkles under their eyes.
As they entered and glanced over at Chris, they all went dead silent, eyes wide and jaws slack. They stood there for a solid minute, Chris desperately wanting to disappear. Was he really that strange of a guy, considering dragons and talking ponies and every other goofy thing he’s seen today? Slowly, the pink pony walked up to him and raised her hoof, touching his cheek and feeling the skin rub against her fur. Chris could feel the sheer awe coming from her and the others.
So soft he could barely hear her, she said “...Jinx?” Chris shook his head, politely grabbing her hoof and lowering it.
“Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry. This is Christopher, he arrived only an hour or two ago in Ponyville. Chris, these are all of my best friends.” Twilight said, resting her hoof on Pinkie’s back. She nodded, but immediately shook Chris’ hand excitedly and shook him up and down.
“Oh well, then hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, number one party planning pony in Ponyville! Well it’s a tie between me or Cheese Sandwich (that’s my husband) but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I never saw you before, and normally that means your new but Twilight already said that, which means-” She took a huge gasp before turning angrily at the alicorn, still shaking the poor man. “You didn’t tell me we had a new friend coming over! I wanna get a ‘I’m sorry’ hug from you after!” She rolled her head back to the human. “Anyway, that means I have to throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ AND a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party!” She let go, hopping around the group with springs in her steps.
The now dizzy human tried his best not to fall, and grabbed his head. “N-n-nice to meet you, P-Pinkie Pie. And the rest of you are?”
The white unicorn stepped forward, flipping her mane and batting her eyelashes at him. “I am Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique line of businesses of Equestria! And my, you do have a rather unique body.” She said, looking at Chris’ shirt and pants. He chuckled and just let her do her thing. “Luckily for you, I still have some designs from the last time I made clothes for a young man such as yourself.”
The orange mare rolled her eyes and pushed Rarity aside. “Sorry ‘bout her, she gets worked up when inspiration hits. The name’s Applejack, and if ya need anything farm or apple related, Ah’m your gal!” Chris nodded, taking a liking to her country accent. “And this here’s mah wife, Rainbow Dash.” Then she leaned in close to his ear and smirked, whispering, “Don’t worry, ya’ll will get used to her.”
Rainbow Dash grumbled and flipped over Applejack’s hat over her face, laughing. “Yeah yeah, hilarious, AJ. Anyway, I’m Rainbow Dash, captain of the Wonderbolts and bestest flyer in all of Equestria.” Chris raised his eyebrow as she started posing midair, puffing her chest and flexing her muscles.
“Um, what are the Wonderbolts?” He asked, smiling sheepishly. Rainbow’s jaw dropped so low it nearly hit the floor, shaking her head and getting up in his face.
“Who are the WONDERBOLTS? HELLO, they’re only the most prestigious and talented group of Pegasi in the world! We train hard and fly harder! Do you live under a rock?”
“No, just a different world.” He grumbled under his breath, regretting asking. He turned towards the yellow pegasi who was giggling at their friends' antics. She looked over at Chris, and while not hiding completely, was a little too nervous to look him directly in the eye. “I can only guess your name has to do with being shy, doesn’t it?” Chris half-joked. At this rate he could probably guess.
“My name is F-Fluttershy. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Christopher. I hope you can get along with us.” Chris smiled. It was hard not to, seeing all of these mares interacting with each other. Is this what having real friends is like? How do they manage?
“Me too, guys. Me too.”