CHAPTER THREE
Meeting The Locals
Holy crap, that's a lot of ponies.
The time had come for my little question and answer session at the school. I had left the hospital a few days previously, and Cheerilee had spent that time bringing me up to speed with everything she knew about Equestria and its history. I was taught about cutie marks, Nightmare Moon, the Elements of Harmony, Discord... everything up until the Royal Wedding which had taken place a few days before my arrival. I had heard wedding crasher stories before, but this one was ridiculous!
But looking out over the sea of ponies crammed into the auditorium, I couldn't help but feel nervous. It seemed like everypony in town had turned up to get a glimpse of the 'alien', ask a few questions, and then decide whether or not they could trust me. I was in two minds about what to expect.
Part of me was expecting it to go as smoothly as my first meeting with Cheerilee and the Crusaders — a little bit of shock, but then relaxation as we begin talking. Naturally, the other part of me was expecting pitchforks and flaming torches.
"Everypony is settled in, Geo." Cheerilee said from my side. "Are you ready to begin?"
I took a deep breath and shook my shoulders before turning to look her straight in the face.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I replied. "Let's do this."
Cheerilee smiled and trotted onto the stage. She surveyed the crowd for a brief moment before clearing her throat.
"May I have everypony's attention please?" she called out.
A sudden silence descended on the room as the townsponies stopped talking, fixing their gazes on Cheerilee.
"As you are all no doubt aware," Cheerilee said, "there have been rumours of an 'alien' in Ponyville. These rumours are true. The 'alien' in question is a human. His name is Geo, and he has gathered you all here today in the hopes of establishing a friendly relationship with everypony in town."
The murmuring began again as ponies speculated on what I would look like. One of them, a mint-green unicorn mare, stood up.
"Is this creature dangerous?" she asked.
Cheerilee shook her head.
"If he was, do you really think I'd have brought him here?" she said sternly. "Honestly, Lyra, I do have some sense. Granted, I will admit that he does look intimidating, but I can assure you that he's not. I have spent the last few days with him, and found him to be enjoyable company."
Lyra shrugged and sat down.
"Where is he?" called out a light brown stallion with a black mane.
Cheerilee turned to look at me and nodded.
All right, Geo. Time to meet the public.
I fixed a warm smile on my face and strode out onto the stage. As expected, there were a lot of gasps. I took my place at the podium and looked out over my audience.
"Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." I said. "Hello there, everypony. As you've been told, my name is Geo, and I am a human who is now living in your fair town. Since you would be seeing me around eventually, I felt that this was the best way for you to get to know me, as well as alleviate any doubts or fears you might have. So, with that said... does anypony have any questions?"
Everypony raised a hoof.
Fucking. Hell.
"Okay... let's start with, er... you. Lyra, is it?"
Lyra nodded.
"Hi." she said cheerfully. "Let me start by asking the most obvious question. And that is... where are you from?"
"I come from a place called Earth." I replied. "I understand that this is also 'Earth', but the one I come from is vastly different. So I guess you could say I'm from another dimension."
Several hooves were lowered as I answered Lyra's question. However, a few remained raised. One of them belonged to a familiar mare, whom I'd met in the hospital.
"Next question... you, Miss Sparkle."
"Please, call me Twilight." she replied.
"Very well." I replied. "Now, your question?"
"You said your Earth is different to ours." Twilight asked. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"
Well, isn't she an inquisitive little mare?
"Well, let's see." I said. "For one, we don't have magic in our world. Humans rely heavily on technology to do things for them. I also explained to my doctor that we do have ponies, but they aren't sentient. Nor do we have unicorns and pegasi."
"Yes," Twilight interjected, "Doctor Haywick was telling me about that. He also told me how awkward it was for you. But I understand completely, and I'm sure everypony else does too."
I blinked in surprise.
"So the fact that ponies in my world are kept as labour animals and pets doesn't bother you?" I checked.
Everypony shook their head.
"Not at all." Twilight said. "Because those ponies aren't us."
"Huh. I never thought of it like that." I said. "Well, okay then. Any more questions?"
Another load of hooves shot into the air, a few of which belonged to the local schoolchildren. I pointed at one of them, an earth pony filly who's cutie mark resembled two crossed candy canes.
"You there." I said. "What is your question?"
She looked surprised that I had chosen her, but she cleared her throat and spoke up nonetheless.
"My name is Twist," she said with a lisp, "and I was wondering. Everypony here is friends with each other, and they help out a lot. Are humans like that as well?"
Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! The question I was dreading.
I thought for a moment, and decided that while telling a lie would seem right, there was the chance of it being uncovered. No, I'd rather tell them the truth.
"Some are, yes." I replied. "But there are also some humans who are not. They steal, cheat, lie and basically make life hard for everybody else. Human history has always known conflict. My ancestors waged wars over trivial things like land, religion and resources. Such wars continue today, but I avoid them. I, like so many others, do my best to make people happy. I stay away from arguments, and only resort to violence as an extreme last resort."
Twist, as well as a few of the other townsponies, looked shocked.
"Let me stress that I am not like that. There are several organisations and charities which are dedicated to things like housing the homeless, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and getting people with addictions the help they need to kick their habits. I do what I can to help."
Silence.
Shit, this is all I needed. I'm probably gonna get run out of town.
Thankfully, Cheerilee came to my rescue yet again. She nudged me to one side as she addressed the crowd.
"I'm just as shocked as the rest of you," she said, "but let me tell you once more that I trust this man. He has shown me no signs of hostility in the few days he has been living with me. Instead, he has shown a genuine interest in Equestria, its citizens and its history. Don't let what he's told you about some humans cloud your judgement of him as an individual."
The silence persisted for a few moments before being broken with murmurs of 'I guess so' and 'Cheerilee is right'. The mare in question gave me a supportive smile, which I returned with one of my own.
"Thank you." I whispered, before taking my place at the podium again. "Now that that's done, are there any more questions?"
Not a single hoof was raised this time.
Seriously? That's all they have for me?
"Really?" I asked. "That's all?"
Everypony looked at each other before they nodded.
"Well then." I said. "Now I have a question for you."
They looked at me expectantly.
"Do you believe that I am something to be feared... or accepted?" I asked bluntly. "Will you treat me as a friend, or a foe?"
The loud chorus of 'FRIEND!' was the only answer I needed.
Thank fuck for that.
***
The question and answer session was followed up by a party at the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner. It was planned by Pinkie Pie, and what a party it was. I've never seen so many treats in one place before. It's a miracle Equestria isn't in the grip of a major diabetes epidemic. I'm usually a shy individual, but the coercion I was getting from Cheerilee helped a lot, and I soon found myself on the dance floor, mesmerising everypony with my moves.
... or perhaps I was so bad, I left them speechless. Either way, I strut my stuff like it was going out of fashion (and judging by the looks Rarity was giving me, it probably was).
But at least I had won the minds of the locals. It was great to know that they wouldn't see me as some kind of monster. And as I continued to make a complete tit out of myself, I saw Cheerilee talking with Twilight, both of them looking over at me and giggling.
I could tell that this was the start of a new chapter of my life, and I was prepared to enjoy it as much as I could. I had been given a chance to make new start, and I had new friends to go with it.
And I wasn't prepared to screw it up.