//------------------------------//
// The Third Day: Ain't No Party Like a Pinkie Pie Party 
// Story: You Do (Not) Belong 
// by 2dextreem 
//------------------------------//


You Do (Not) Belong



The Third Day: Ain't No Party Like a Pinkie Pie Party




The door to the Golden Oak Library swung open with a slight creak, letting in both the steady light of the afternoon sun and a very relieved human being. Taking a few steps inside the arborical atheneum, Connor stopped, a tired smile on his face as he reached up and stretched to alleviate the soreness in his back.

“Oh, man. I never thought I’d be so glad to be in a library,” he said, both physically and mentally exhausted from the trials of the day. His comment drew a roll of the eyes from Twilight, who just then followed him in through the door and closed it using her horn.

“Quit being so dramatic. It’s only five o’clock,” the mare responded chidingly while she used magic to unbuckle the saddlebags around her midsection and lay them down next to the door. “And I don’t understand what the big deal is. I thought it was a pretty normal day.”

“Pfft. ‘Normal,’” Connor commented, using his hands to make air quotes around the word. If any other sane person had shared the experiences he had been put through since the moment he woke up that morning, they too would have considered a plain, boring library to be akin to a refreshing oasis parked in the middle of a desert of absurdity.

In some ways, he was relieved that the day was pretty much over, and there was nothing left to demand his immediate attention. In other ways, this only meant that he was free to think about one particular Equestrian quirk that he had stubbornly refused to dwell on for as long as possible. That is, after it was done gnawing away at his incredulity like a determined beaver.

As the event had nearly seared itself into his memory, it was easy for him to think back to the cafe, with nearly a quarter of Ponyville singing and dancing in the streets around him to an array of instrumentals that literally came from nowhere. Connor had only spared a moment to beg Twilight not to join in. If that had happened, he was afraid he might never be able to take the unicorn seriously again. (And if a unicorn was supposed to be his baseline, that’s really saying something). Then, he very resolutely laid his head on the table and buried it in his arms, simply waiting for the circus to end.

And all the while he was thinking that, not even were he on drugs, could the situation possibly get any weirder.

Probably for the best that I just try to forget about it, or else my brain might cook itself in my head, Connor thought to himself before focusing on something, anything else.

A quick glance around the room told him that nothing had really changed since that morning, but a short sniff of the air brought something new to his attention. The library smelled sweet for some reason. The normal, rustic scent of old books and fresh wood was mixed in subtly with the smell of something rich and heavy. And whatever it was, it smelled good.

“Spike?” Twilight meanwhile called out for her draconic assistant, raising her voice so that it echoed throughout the empty wooden chamber. “Spi~ike?”

She was answered moments later, when both her and Connor could hear the door to the kitchen down the hall swing about on its hinges, followed shortly by the diminutive dragon padding out into the main room. He was busy wiping his claws on a small towel, wearing the same frilly apron he had on during breakfast.

“Hey, guys. What’s-- Whoa.” He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Connor, standing close to the table in the center, donning Rarity’s work. Spike paused in his motions for a few seconds while he looked the human up and down, analyzing the change of dress. After a short while, he nodded in approval and flashed him a toothy grin. “Lookin’ fancy there, Connor.”

“Heh, thanks,” he responded, casually straightening the jacket. “Rarity does a good job.”

“She sure does. I told ya so, didn’t I?”

“Yup, that you did,” Connor agreed before changing topics. “So, are you baking something? It smells really good.”

“Oh, yeah!” Spike jerked a thumb back towards the kitchen. “I’m whipping up a batch of white caramel fudge cookies for the party tonight. Gotta say, they're turning out pretty good.”

The smell of the cookies, combined with Spike’s specific combination of words to describe them, almost set Connor to drooling. “That sounds amazing. What party would that be?”

“Oh, brother. You forgot again?” Twilight huffed impatiently, drawing his attention to the side.

“Uh...” Connor started, trying not to look the unicorn in the eye as he scrambled to cover for the fact that yes, he had once more forgotten about Pinkie’s party until just then. “Kinda, yeah.”

Twilight merely rolled her eyes a second time and cantered past him as she set about emptying her bags of items and levitating them around the library.

“Hey, in my defense, it’s been kind of a weird day for me,” Connor followed up, before he walked over to the stairway leading to the second floor and sat down on the third step, stretching out his legs and lying back with a sigh. He then reached his hands up and began rubbing his temples, hoping that the building pressure behind them wouldn’t require him to knock back another painkiller. “My poor brain needs a vacation from this world.”

Spike looked back and forth between him and Twilight, an expression of puzzlement plain in his features. “I don’t get it. Did something happen while you guys were out?”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Connor scoffed. “We were just sitting down for a break, then all of a sudden I find myself in the middle of a scene from 'The Sound of Music.' And I hated that movie.”

While Connor continued to keep his eyes shut, Twilight took it upon herself to clarify with a hint of amusement. “It’s nothing to worry about, Spike. There was just a song in town today, and for some reason Connor’s not all too happy about it.”

“Oh, really? Who was it?” asked Spike.

“Golden Harvest. It was all really nice. Apparently, she’s fallen head over hooves for somepony.”

“Ah. Well, good for her, then.”

Et tu, Spike? Am I the only sane one here? Connor thought. With a grunt, he brought himself upright, rubbing his eyes before staring bemusedly at the dragon child.

“I just don’t understand what it is about Equestria that makes spontaneous singing and dancing to invisible music such a casual thing. I--” Connor paused, setting his jaw before shaking his head, defeated. “I give up. Not gonna talk about it any more. You ponies can have your crazy musical shenanigans; I wash my hands of this weirdness.”

Connor punctuated the point by (perhaps over-dramatically) folding his arms and looking up and off to the side, not saying anything more. While Twilight ignored him and went about her business, Spike only stared, eyebrow raised, before nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

“Sure, you do that. Meanwhile, I’ve got cookies to check up on,” the dragon stated, turning on the spot and quickly heading back down the hall leading to the kitchen. “Wouldn’t wanna bring a plate of burnt lumps to the party!”

“Yeah, about that,” Connor muttered slowly as he watched Spike pad away, before shifting to address his librarian friend. “To be perfectly honest, I think I’ve been through enough today. Do I reeeeeally have to go to this thing?”

Without looking back at him, Twilight continued keeping busy, using her magic to move a bundle of papers into a nearby cupboard while she responded. “Sorry, but I’m gonna have to say yes. Seeing as you’re the guest of honor, it would kinda be rude, don’t you think?” The mare chuckled softly to herself. “Besides, you made a Pinkie Promise, remember? And trust me on this, you do not want to find out what happens when you break a Pinkie Promise.”

“Why? What’ll happen if I do?” Connor asked in a challenging tone.

“Well, come to the party and you won’t have to find out,” Twilight said coyly, turning slightly to the side and giving him a smirk. Connor responded by staring back at her blankly for a few seconds, then breathing in deeply and releasing it in a long sigh.

“Alright, alright. Fine, I’ll go. You happy now?” The human knew it was a foregone conclusion anyway, but arguing about it at least made him feel like he had a say in the matter.

Twilight tilted her head at Connor and gave him a cross look. “Are you always this difficult?”

“Hey, given the circumstances, I think I’m pretty much entitled,” he shot back playfully. “And besides, I like being difficult.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.”

Now it was Connor’s turn to roll his eyes as he put his hands on his knees and forced himself upright, groaning with fatigue as he did so. “Okay, so what time was this thing even supposed to start?”

“The invitation said some time around seven, so we should probably head out around fifteen to,” came Twilight’s reply.

“And it’s just after five, soooo...” Connor trailed off as he ran the options in his head. Upon reaching a decision, he raised a finger into the air in a declarative fashion. “I am going to take a nap.”

And with that, he turned and started going up the steps to the library’s second floor, looking forward to a well-deserved lapse in consciousness. As he came up close to the lip of the ceiling, he finished by saying, “Feel free to wake me up when it’s time to go. Or not. I wouldn’t mind either way.” And then he disappeared past the threshold of the stairwell.

As for Twilight, she found herself welcoming the silence, as there were now no more distractions to get in the way of getting everything settled before it was time to leave. But as she emptied her saddlebags by removing Connor’s old clothes from them, the silence was broken by the thumps of his sneakers hitting the stairs again, and he came back just a few steps down into the first floor.

“Oh, and one other thing. Yooooooou~ were mistaken,” Connor told the lavender unicorn, grinning from ear to ear.

“Wait, what?” Twilight drew back, looking up at the teenager with perplexity and surprise written all over her muzzle. “What do you mean? Mistaken about what?”

“About the Pinkie Promise. You said it was that I would go to this party, but in fact, I actually promised I would go to the next one. I am under no such sworn obligation to attend tonight’s festivities.”

“And you feel the need to mention this because?”

“Meh, no real reason. Just wanted to let you know that you’re not always right all the time,” Connor replied smugly.

Connor’s triumphant expression was quickly and unexpectedly wiped off, as the pile of clothes in Twilight’s magic field became a telekinetic missile aimed straight at his face. Though not enough to knock him clear off his feet, the force of the assault did catch him off-guard, and he scrambled to grab the bundle before it fell apart and he would have to pick it up off the floor.

His old clothes now secure in his arms, Connor couldn’t help but snicker even louder as he retreated back upstairs and out of sight.

And once she was absolutely certain the human had gone away and left her in peace, Twilight too allowed herself a short laugh at the shared moment of silliness, before bemusedly shaking her head and picking up where she left off.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Watching her pink friend balance precariously on her hind hooves at the top step of a ladder -- while simultaneously hanging up festive, multicolored streamers -- was giving Applejack a mild sense of unease.

Then she reminded herself that her friend was Pinkie Pie, and her worries were instantly put to rest.

“Y'all sure ya don’t need any help there, Pinkie?” the orange-coated earth pony called up to her friend in her customary accented drawl.

“Eeeeyup!” Pinkie responded, giving her best impression of Applejack’s older brother before having a small giggling fit at her little joke. “I got everything covered, don’tcha worry.”

“Okay, so long as yer sure,” Applejack said with a shrug. “If y'all need anythin', just holler.”

With that, she turned away from Ponyville’s resident party mare and took a look around the generously sized barn they were in, which up until a half hour ago was completely bare, save for a few bales of hay and some stray farming equipment. Since Pinkie arrived, it had been transformed into a room fit for a shindig of the highest caliber, with tables piled high with delectable food and drink, party games such as the classic Pin the Tail on the Pony, and enough balloons to lift a full-grown pony clear into the air. All that remained was for the guests to arrive.

To say that Applejack was a little dubious about the whole thing would have been an understatement. Normally, whenever Pinkie requested the use of her family’s barn for one of her parties (in the cases when Sugarcube Corner wasn’t available), she wouldn’t hesitate to oblige. But with all the craziness of the past week or so, on top of the rumors she was hearing about strange goings on in town, it was only Pinkie’s reassurances that everything would turn out perfectly that kept her skepticism in check.

Pinkie had no reason to lie to her, and as far as she could tell, was absolutely certain the situation was completely under control, so there was nothing to worry about... right?

Though, while Applejack might’ve been able to keep a cool head underneath the large stetson hat she always wore, the only other guest to show up so far that evening: a certain fretful yellow pegasus, was apparently having a harder time of it.

While Pinkie continued her work, Fluttershy remained seated on a hay bale by one of the tables, keeping to herself and occasionally looking around with her wide aquamarine eyes while nervously smoothing out her long pink mane with her hooves. With a pang of sympathy, the farm pony casually cantered over to her friend with a disarming smile across her muzzle.

“Hey there, sugarcube. What’s wrong? Y'all look more nervous than a cowpony headin’ to her first rodeo.”

Fluttershy looked up, her bangs falling away to frame a face that more resembled a timid mouse than a pony. “O-oh... it’s nothing...”

“Sure don’t look like nothin’.”

“Well, I guess...” The shy pony resumed shuffling her hooves as she gazed down at them. “I’m just thinking about... who’s coming to the party. This... ‘Connor.’ I’ve heard... rumors.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Me too. Ya know, somethin’ just don’t sit right with me about this. What with all this crazy stuff happenin’ the past week, and now there’s some feller we ain’t ever seen or heard of before stayin’ at Twilight’s all of a sudden.”

“I heard he’s not even a pony, but that he’s...” Fluttershy took a long, slow gulp. “...something really different.”

“Mm-hmm. Ah heard that too. Ah just hate the fact that Ah know next to nothin’ ‘bout what’s goin’ on here. A’course, Pinkie saw the fella, even talked to ‘im, but she still won’t tell me nothin’ 'bout him.” The farm pony gazed over at Pinkie, who was busy excitedly stringing blinking lights across the rafters, then shook her head, chuckling softly. “Tryin’ to get information outta Pinkie Pie is like tryin’ to squeeze apple juice from an orange.”

“I just hope he’s not mean... or scary... or mean and scary...” The pegasus took a gasp of air and raised a hoof to her lips. “Oh, dear. What if--”

Fluttershy’s apprehensiveness was interrupted by a sudden knocking on the barn’s wide, heavy oak door, and she nearly jumped out of her seat while uttering a short, barely audible “Eeep!”

Moments later, the door slowly swung open, admitting the mare who had just announced her arrival: none other than the princess of punctuality herself, Rarity. Closely in tow behind the white unicorn was her little sister, Sweetie Belle, and the two of them comfortably entered onto the hay-covered dirt floor. With the initial surprise having gone, the group of good friends greeted each other as they always did, sharing a happy embrace, before settling down at a table to catch up with each other.

And after about a minute of staying quiet and off to the side while the adults talked about this and that, an impatient Sweetie gently poked Applejack on her cutie mark to get her attention.

“Hey, Applejack, where’s Apple Bloom at? I really gotta talk to her,” the filly inquired, wondering about her fellow Crusader.

The cowpony looked over to the little unicorn and cracked a smile before thinking for a few seconds. “Hmm... Well, last Ah knew, she was in the kitchen with Big Mac, cleanin’ up after dinner. If y'all hurry, she’s prolly still there.”

“Thanks!” Sweetie exclaimed quickly as she zoomed off and away out the barn door, leaving tufts of hay floating in her wake.

“Heh, what’s she so excited fer?” AJ addressed Rarity with a snicker.

“Oh, she’s just being her usual excitable self,” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. “She’s probably off to tell Apple Bloom all about her time with Connor.”

The simple pronouncement of the name caught Applejack completely off-guard, causing her green eyes to widen and lock on to the ivory mare. “What’d you say? Connor? Y'all met ‘im!?”

Rarity, equally shocked by her friend’s outburst, drew back slightly. “Why, Applejack! It’s nothing to get so worked up over.”

“Like hay it ain’t! At this point, y'all know more ‘bout him than Ah do,” Applejack countered, before leaning forwards on the table and eying the unicorn closely. “So spill.”

“Please, darling. I am a lady, and it would be absolutely uncouth for a lady such as myself to indulge in petty gossip,” the unicorn stressed, holding a hoof to her chest while holding her head high in a debonair fashion. She held that position for a long few seconds...

...before her eyes fluttered back to the blonde-maned earth pony, and she flashed her a sly grin. “But if you simply must know...”

With a certain degree of vigor, Rarity launched into her story, describing in great detail about how the mysterious stranger had come to her doorstep alongside Twilight, propositioning her talents as a designer in a quest for some new clothes. The mare went on to explain what transpired during the time she spent taking measurements and asking questions, while both Applejack and Fluttershy listened intently. Finally, she ended on her personal opinions about her guest, after she finished mentioning how he was kind enough to make time to play with Sweetie Belle while he waited on her to complete her commission.

“Overall, I would say that he was really rather charming, if a bit flighty. And perhaps a wee bit high strung, if you ask me. But he was certainly friendly,” Rarity finished with a nod. “Oh, and he simply loved the outfit I made for him, so I can tell he also has good taste.”

“Um... Rarity?” Fluttershy spoke up bashfully, hoping she wasn’t interrupting. “Is... is it true that Connor isn’t a pony?”

“Oh! I got so caught up, I completely forgot to mention!” the unicorn said with mild astonishment as she held a hoof to her head. “Yes, Fluttershy, dear, it’s true. In fact, I’m pretty sure the word he used to describe himself was ‘human.’ And believe me, he doesn’t look like anything you’ve seen before.”

The exchange was immediately interrupted by a puffy pink mane, interjecting itself between the three ponies from directly above the table they were sitting. The mare it was attached to turned to face Rarity, a happy, upside-down smile on her face as she spoke. “Silly Rarity! He’s not a human, he’s a connor! He said so himself!” Pinkie exclaimed exuberantly, causing Rarity to chuckle.

“Oh, Pinkie. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I do believe you’re mistaken. I’m quite sure you simply misunderstood him,” she lightheartedly corrected her friend, with a casual attitude that spoke of her experience in doing so more often than not.

The party mare merely shrugged (while still hanging upside-down) before raising herself back up and out of sight. Meanwhile, Applejack remained skeptical about everything that Rarity had been telling her for the last couple of minutes.

“Ah gotta say, Rarity, this all sounds a might farfetched if ya ask me. Ah’ve never even heard of a ‘hew-man’ before,” the cowpony admitted, sounding out the syllables to demonstrate the word’s unfamiliarity.

“That’s not all that surprising, really,” Rarity continued. “I’ll admit I hadn’t either, and he said it’s because he comes from the land of Amareica, which if I understand correctly is quite a ways away from Equestria.”

“Pffft!” Applejack couldn’t help but sputter out a laugh as a disbelieving expression crossed her face. “Amareica? Now Ah know yer pullin’ mah leg. That’s gotta be the biggest load a’ horseapples Ah ever heard.”

“I’m only telling you what he told me,” the white mare covered, slightly put off by her friend’s lack of confidence. “He seemed an alright enough sort, and he certainly didn’t strike me as dishonest. Do you really think he’s lying for whatever reason?”

“Can’t say Ah know anythin’ fer sure, but one thing’s certain: ain’t nopony that can pull one over on me.” Applejack leaned back on her hay bale, pulling back on her stetson before folding her forelegs together. “Not that I don’t trust ya, Rarity, but Ah’ll wait till he gets here before Ah make up mah mind about ‘im.”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy stayed quiet, shifting uncomfortably in her seat and casting wary glances out the window nearby as the light of afternoon gradually gave way to dusk.


------------------------


Celestia’s Sun had only recently set, and the stars in the sky were just barely beginning to peek out by the time Twilight, Connor, and Spike found themselves at the edge of the Apple Family’s orchard. Groves upon groves of blossom-laden trees stretched far along the road behind them, lined the whole way by a stark white picket fence, but this was apparently the true point of entry for the farm proper. There to greet them was a finely wrought wooden arch set up over the dirt road, wreathed in thick green vines along the edges, and framing a hanging wooden block with a simple relief of an apple carved in the middle. In the dimming light of dusk, the trio could still clearly make out the pale yellow lights emanating from the townhouse located at the top of the gently sloping hill, along with the large frame of the nearby barn that was to play host to the night’s festivities.

While Spike devoted his attention to the tray of cookies held firmly in his claws, this left Connor and Twilight mostly to themselves during a majority of the trip. On the way from the Golden Oak, the two talked for a time about various unimportant topics, mostly to fill the silence with something other than chirping crickets and the sound of dirt crunching under foot and hoof. But now as they passed beneath the entry to the rustic villa, Connor found himself shifting the conversation to more relevant areas.

“So, this is Sweet Apple Acres, huh? Nice place,” he commented, looking around casually and taking note of how, despite the name, Applejack’s expansive farm also had other fields devoted to a number of other vegetables.

“Mm-hmm,” Twilight grunted in the affirmative, looking straight ahead as if distracted by something. For a good few seconds afterwards, nothing else was said between them, leading to another awkward pause before a brisk wind blew through, causing Connor to inch the zipper on his new jacket up some more.

“Pretty chilly out, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” came the unicorn’s reply, the nonchalance of her answer giving Connor the impression that she barely even noticed.

Probably all that fur keeping her warm. Must be nice not having to worry about stuff like that, thought Connor as he redirected his attention back to the homestead on the hill, which was still a good few minutes’ walk away. “So, how many people are, uh... I mean ponies are gonna be there, you think?”

“Well, let’s see...” Twilight started, pausing only for a moment to think. “Me and Pinkie, obviously. Also Rarity and her sister, Applejack and her two siblings. I doubt Granny Smith would be up for a party this late in the evening. That just leaves Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy if they’re coming too. So nine in total, plus you and Spike, of course.”

“Sure, okay,” Connor said, barely able to keep up with the bunch of names Twilight listed off, beyond the ones he was already familiar with. “Nine doesn’t sound too bad, right? Yeah, it’ll be fine.”

Silence came once again as they continued up the hill, with Connor trying to psych himself up by repeating to himself that there was nothing to worry about, and as long as he stuck to his story, meeting Twilight’s friends would be a piece of cake.

Then he noticed his unicorn companion’s steps gradually start to slow, until she stopped moving altogether and planted her hooves in the dirt with a heavy sigh, almost causing Spike to bump into her before he caught himself and sidestepped around.

“Why’d you stop? Something wrong?” Connor asked Twilight out of concern, causing her to look back at him with an indefinable expression in her eyes.

“Actually, yeah. Something’s been eating at me for a while now, and I think I finally know what it is,” she said back, lowering her eyes and breathing out slowly. “I don’t feel like I can lie to my friends anymore.”

“What do you mean, ‘lying’?”

“You know, about what you really are; where you really came from.”

Uh oh, Connor thought, the back of his neck starting to feel hot despite the cold atmosphere.

“But I thought we agreed that it wasn’t really lying,” he countered, hoping that this wasn’t going where he was afraid it was going. “And besides, it worked well enough with Rarity, and the mayor. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal? Look, let me just explain something to you.” Twilight’s tone of voice shifted, becoming slightly more forceful as she locked her stance into what Connor assumed to be an assertive position. “We’re talking about my best friends. My best friends. And to you that might not mean very much, but to me, my friends are everything. We don’t lie to each other and we don’t keep secrets.” There was a steadfast fire in the unicorn’s deep purple eyes as she said her final peace. “They trust me, and I trust them. Keeping this from them feels like I'm betraying that trust. They deserve to know.”

As the pony and human stood off, neither side saying anything more as what Twilight had said was digested, Spike innocently poked his head in between them after watching the drama unfold. After he managed to grab their attention, he backed away slowly in the direction of the hill, the tray of cookies still held firmly in his claws.

“I’m, uh... gonna go on ahead,” he said, bowing slightly. “See you guys at the barn.”

As quickly as his burden would allow, the dragon swiftly made his way down the dirt path and up the hill, leaving Twilight looking up at Connor expectantly. As she waited patiently for his response, he tried to look at anything but her eyes, breathing in some of the crisp night air and let it out in a slow, steady sigh.

“You’re really putting me on the spot here,” he told her, obviously conflicted about letting yet more ponies in on his true origins. “You do know that, right?”

“I know what I’m asking might be asking a lot. But if you want my friends to be your friends too, then a good place to start would be to leave everything on the table,” Twilight explained, and the conviction in her voice left no doubt in Connor’s mind as to the sincerity of her next statement. “And if you don’t tell them... I will.”

Connor considered his next move carefully.

So far, he had managed to get by in this new world with very few of the locals knowing about his otherworldly origins, and those that did mostly consisted of Celestia, Luna, and the one unicorn they seemed to trust the most.

But what about the ponies she knew?

He'd already met Pinkie and Rarity, and they seemed like okay sorts. But as for the others, namely, the ones she called Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and more... could he trust them not to react like he expected? Hell, would they even believe him at all?

He supposed they would eventually, given that Twilight would most certainly back him up, but what about after? Would they then go off to tell all of Equis about him? About how he was unique and alone, and utterly foreign to the ponies’ world in plenty more ways than one?

And there was one more thing that came to his mind as he reviewed the events of the past few days in his mind. As he thought about how, time and time again, this strange place had defied his expectations.

The thing was... did it even matter anymore?

Almost every pony he had met so far had treated him with respect, courtesy, and a very visible inclination towards friendship, entirely in spite of his strange outward appearance. Would they care at all about where he came from and how he got there? Was it possible that in this world, those kinds of things really didn’t matter?

Connor thought long and hard about that one aspect of being in Equestria, and how it defied nearly everything he had come to believe about relating to other people -- strangers, even.

And he came to the conclusion that... no. No, those things didn’t matter. At least, not here.

“Alright, I’ll do it. No secrets,” the human finally said, reluctantly, but apparently to the immense relief of his pony friend. “But can you promise me that this stuff’ll stay between us and your friends? I still don’t want to draw attention to myself if I can avoid it.”

“Absolutely. It won’t go past them, I promise,” Twilight replied, a satisfied smile on her face as she turned and continued up to the barn, a terrible weight having been lifted off her shoulders.

I doubt it’ll stay that way for long, though, Connor thought, skeptical that the “secret” -- that would soon be far less secret -- would stay between Twilight and the others. But hey, in for a bit, in for a... well, whatever’s bigger than a bit.


------------------------


“Well, here we are.”

Twilight and Connor found themselves standing about twenty or so feet away from the Apple Family barn, that distance and a barely open door all that was standing between them and the party within. From the look of it, said party already appeared to be in full swing, as an upbeat, generically catchy tune wafted out into the night air, and the occasional shadow flitted across the light that splayed outwards onto the dirt ground.

After making her rather obvious statement, Twilight turned and looked up at the human disarmingly. “Are you ready to meet my friends?”

Connor paused for a second, looking up at the two-story and some change barn that seemed intimidatingly larger than it had when they first came into the orchard. From a distance it looked quaint and charming, painted bright, fire engine red and liberally decorated with apples and white trim. But up close, it practically loomed over him, to the point where he had the dim, irrational feeling that it might fall down and crush him.

Connor swallowed. “Define ‘ready,’” he finally said after a while.

“Oh, no, you don't.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m not falling for that one again.”

“Dangit,” Connor cursed with a sideways expression, trying to mask his apprehension with a humorous gesture. He managed to make Twilight chuckle lightly, before she breathed in and out in a huff.

“Would you like me to go in first? Sort of set you up, I guess?”

“That’d probably be a good idea.”

“Okay.” Twilight nodded in understanding. “Wait right here, I’ll tell you when you can come in.”

With that, she turned once again and started galloping to the barn’s entryway, pausing just outside the door to open it slightly wider with her hoof and slip inside. Connor only caught the first end of her announced greeting, before her voice became masked by the sounds of the music coming from the party.

Left to himself, Connor could only imagine what the purple pony was saying in there, and the uneasiness was starting to make him antsy. Out of habit, he started cracking his knuckles, while he took note of the fact that his heart was beating slightly faster than it should have been.

Connor closed his eyes, breathing in and out in a steady rhythm and trying to calm himself down. He was starting to get tired of this: the constant worry and anxiety. It was unnecessary and unwarranted, and he tried to convince himself that, if anything, his time in Equestria had shown him that he had nothing to fear from these ponies. All he had to do was remember such events as his night with the Princesses, walking the halls of Canterlot Palace and chatting with Twilight, and sitting down for some lighthearted fun with Rarity’s kid sister, and that would make what was to come next seem like less of a big deal. At least, that was the hope.

Connor was jarred from his concerns abruptly when Twilight succeeded in grabbing his attention from the open barn door with a clearing of her throat.

“Come on in,” she said to him, poking her head outside and urging him on with a hoof. “Everypony’s waiting.”

“Right, coming,” Connor answered, taking a deep breath and starting to take determined steps towards the barn.

Come on, man, get a grip. You’re not some social misfit. You can do this, he berated himself as he came up to the wide wooden door. Without a second thought, he reached out, emboldened, grasped the edge in his hand, and pulled. It’s party time.

The first thing that he noticed upon entering was the fact that the music ended abruptly with a very real and very appropriate record skipping noise. An uncomfortable silence reigned as Connor took in the scene before him, as did the assembled ponies.

Among those in attendance, there was Twilight and Spike standing immediately off to the side on his left, the prim and proper Rarity sitting on a hay bale next to a table along the wall, absently flicking her mane behind her head, and the enthusiastically grinning Pinkie Pie near the center of the floor, seeming to be almost vibrating of her own accord. That took care of the ones Connor was familiar with. As for the others...

Standing next to Pinkie with an openmouthed stare apparent on her lightly freckled face was an orange mare, an earth pony, wearing a large brown cowboy hat on top of a blonde mane held back in a ponytail. On her flank she bore the symbol of three small, red apples, making her out to be one of the Apple Family, most likely. And located behind the two earth mares, hiding behind them as if she was trying to be invisible, was the subtly quivering form of a yellow pony with wings, a flowing pink mane and tail, and three tiny pink butterflies as a cutie mark. From between Pinkie and the orange pony, Connor could see her soft blue eyes dart up from the floor to sneak a peek at him. Apparently upon realizing that he was indeed tall enough to see over her cover, she cringed even lower to the hay-covered ground in a manner that was downright pitiful.

Aside from the ponies (and one dragon), the barn itself was as formulaic a party setup as one could imagine. A number of tables had been set up along one wall, with cream-colored tablecloths, surrounded by a bunch of small hay bales for use as seats. Streamers of many bright and spectacular hues hung from the ceiling and across the banisters, along with strings of blinking lights. And the balloons... There were so many balloons clustered along the ceiling, tethered to the tables, or simply free floating, that he found himself wondering how there was possibly room for anything else.

Back towards the far end of the barn was a long, wide table where the refreshments were set up, and though he couldn’t see exactly what was on display, there was apparently a large selection of snacks and sweets available, accompanied by an absolutely massive bowl of punch.

They only other thing in the room that was immediately noticeable was a large, boxy metal turntable device and speaker setup sitting on the other side across from the seating, on which a single record was still spinning with the needle askew. For a fraction of a second, it sparked a curiosity in Connor’s mind, as the Equestrians seemed to be bereft of things such as TVs or telephones, but they had turntables and surround sound? It was an interesting display of priorities, if nothing else.

Regardless, eager to project an air of confidence, Connor straightened up, adjusted his glasses a bit, and tried to make an honest attempt at starting off on the right foot. “Hi... I--”

“Hooooly smokes,” the be-hatted pony interrupted, in what was plain to Connor as a southern accent, as she looked him over with emerald-green eyes.

“Applejack, really,” spoke up Rarity, sending a chastising glance in the cowpony’s direction. “Hasn’t anypony ever taught you it’s rude to interrupt?”

“Oh, uh, mah apologies,” the mare called Applejack quickly stated, taking off her hat and holding it in front of her cordially. “Y'all just kinda... caught me off-guard, is all.”

“Oh, it’s... it’s fine, really. I don’t mind.” Connor reached up to scratch his neck. “So, Applejack, right?”

“That’s right,” AJ said with restrained cordiality, replacing her hat back on top of her head. “Pleasure ta meet ya... Connor.”

“And Pinkie, Rarity...” he continued, pointing to each one in turn and receiving a nod from them in kind. He paused when he came to the pegasus in the back, evidently trying to make herself look as small as possible. “Um... Are you okay?”

“I’mfinethanks,” the butter-yellow mare responded in barely a whisper, though Connor plainly doubted this as she desperately tried to avoid making eye-contact. Her body language spoke volumes as her ears were flattened straight against her head, and she proceeded to crouch even lower to the ground to the point where her chest almost scraped the floor. The whole scene was making him feel the intense urge to apologize to the pony, despite not knowing exactly what he would be apologizing for.

Unsure of what to do, he turned to Twilight with a pleading gesture, and she shook her head with a smile as if to say, “Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” she said softly, taking a few light steps in the pegasus’ direction. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Connor just wants to be friends.”

Both Applejack and Pinkie stepped to the side as Twilight approached the timid mare and offered her a hoof for support. Fluttershy looked up into her friend’s eyes and took a shaky breath, ostensibly steeling her nerves.

“...Okay...” she mumbled, just loud enough for Connor to hear, as she reached out and took Twilight’s hoof in her own and was brought up into standing position, though she still seemed a bit wobbly. Fluttershy finally managed to bring her eyes in Connor’s direction as she bowed her head, her pink mane falling to obscure half of her face before she spoke in the same tone of voice. “...Nice to meet you.”

Too damn cute! She cannae take no more, Captain! Connor opined on the situation in his best Scottish accent while he struggled to maintain his stoicism.

“Nice to meet you too, Fluttershy. Uh...” he trailed off, looking around the barn that seemed prepared for a greater amount of guests than this. “Is that everyone? I thought you said there were more.”

Twilight turned, about to respond, but was cut off by another sound coming from behind the door on the far end of the party. As Connor listened, it became evident that the high-pitched noise sounded like... barking?

As the barking came closer, the heavy door was suddenly nudged open slowly by a little brown, wet nose belonging to a white snout, sniffing at the air as it was followed by the dog it was attached to. It vaguely resembled a Border Collie, though smaller and slighter, only a foot and a half high with scruffy brown and white fur. Around its neck was a red collar with a golden tag, and the animal took one look around the room before wasting no time rushing up to meet the newest arrival, barking all the way.

Tail wagging excitedly, the dog edged its way past the ponies and right up to Connor, sniffing him all over curiously.

“Awww. I didn’t know you had a dog,” said Connor, smiling, as he bent down to pet the exuberant, furry creature, which leaned into his hand in appreciation.

“Yep, that’d be Winona,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Look’s like she’s taken a likin’ to ya. A’course, she likes everypony, anyways.”

While Connor started to scratch Winona behind her floppy ears, much to her rapture, a new voice came from the direction she had come from; a similarly accented voice like Applejack’s, only younger-sounding.

“Winona! Y'all get back here! Yer not supposed to run off like that!”

The voice belonged to a small, custard-colored pony that rushed on through the open door, her bunchy red mane and big pink hair bow bouncing as she ran as fast as her little legs would allow. She was followed closely on her hooves by another filly that Connor recognized as Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle, who similarly ran in, heedless of what was going on. And the new arrivals didn’t end there, as she in turn was followed in by a much, much larger pony. A sizable specimen of earth pony, it was shaped more closely to what Connor had come to know as a male of the species, with deep red fur, bright green apple cutie mark, and thick, unshorn hooves that thumped heavily on the dirt and hay floor. Around his neck he wore a heavy wooden yoke, but he seemed to carry it with an ease that was evidenced by his muscled frame.

As the two fillies came closer, he stopped, eyes half-lidded as he silently regarded Connor with an unreadable expression. But before he could wonder what the stallion was thinking, the younger pony with the bow shot past the group of older mares and, upon catching sight of the human, fumbled at her hooves and skidded to an abrupt halt. She looked at him, blinking a few times, as Sweetie came up next to her and waved a hoof.

“Hi, Connor! Glad you came!” she said in greeting, a bright smile lighting up her features.

“Hey, there, Sweetie Belle,” he returned, his hand still occupied by Winona. “Is this one of your friends?”

“Wow, Sweetie,” the yellow filly spoke up, her eyes full of wonder. “Y'all weren’t kiddin’!”

“See? I told you!” Sweetie nudged her friend playfully with her shoulder before turning back to face Connor. “Yep! This is Apple Bloom. She’s AJ’s sister.”

“Hey, Ah can introduce mahself, thank you very much.”

“And over in the back there is Big Macintosh!” Pinkie chimed in suddenly, having felt left out of the conversation. She waved a hoof over to where the tall red pony was standing. “Say hi, Big Mac!”

The stallion named Big Mac slowly looked from side to side, before nodding his head in the direction of the others.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Connor observed passively.

“...Nnnope,” Big Macintosh replied in a low baritone as he shook his head.

“Ah... To each his own.” The teenager shrugged. His attention was soon demanded by a high-pitched whimper from beneath him, and he looked down at Winona, who had rolled on the ground and was presenting her soft, warm belly. “Aww, does someone want a tummy rub?” In response, the dog barked once, her tongue lolling out in anticipation, and Connor proceeded to enthusiastically grant her request. “Fine...”

Fluttershy, who until now had decided to stay as out of the way as possible, took notice, speaking up clearly for the first time since the human had arrived. “You... you like animals?” she asked meekly.

“What? Uh, I guess so. I mean, I don’t not like animals,” Connor said, unsure of where she was going with this. “I happen to have a dog, too. But I’ve always been more of a cat person, really.”

“Oh...” The pegasus once again looked down and away, pawing at the ground with her hoof. “That’s... good. I guess.”

“A cat person? Is that so,” Rarity called out from her seat. “In that case, I should introduce you to my cat Opalescence. I’m sure you two would get along swimmingly.”

“Pssst!” went Spike, trying to get Connor’s notice as he moved up next to him and leaned in towards his ear, holding up a claw. In a low whisper, he said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Her cat doesn’t like anypony except her.”

“Noted,” Connor whispered back and, deciding he had lavished enough attention on Applejack’s dog, he stopped petting her and stood back up to his full height, stretching out his legs after kneeling for so long. “So, is that everyone?”

“Not quite,” answered Twilight, looking around. “We’re still missing--”

“OUTTA THE WAY!”

That was all the warning given before something moving incredibly fast tore through the barn’s main entrance, missing Connor’s head by a matter of inches and leaving a multicolored streak in its wake. A split second later, it was followed by a gale of wind that ruffled his clothes and hair and nearly blew him back entirely.

Connor, momentarily stunned, could only watch as the rainbow blur resolved itself into the shape of a pony: a female cyan blue pegasus, to be exact. Wings pumping furiously, and with a mane and tail running the whole spectrum of colors, she figuratively put on the brakes, throwing out her hind hooves and stopping her momentum mere moments before she would have crashed into the wall on the far side. Almost as quickly as she came in, the mare crawled to a stop just as the tip of her hoof touched the wood of the wall, having averted what would have been a fairly spectacular wipeout.

Her eyes having been clenched shut in exertion, she opened them now to take stock of the situation. She then pumped a foreleg in the air, apparently pleased with the result.

“Ho, yeah! Now tell me you guys aren’t impressed!” she shouted triumphantly in a raspy, androgynous tone, still hovering a good four feet off the ground while her wings continued to flap silently.

“Need I remind you you’re still technically late, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity remarked offhandedly, in a fashion that also conveyed just how impressed she wasn’t. “Fastest flyer in Equestria, indeed.”

“Hey, gimme a break. I got here as fast as I could.” The mare, who was apparently the aptly named Rainbow Dash, floated upwards towards the ceiling, and proceeded to fly back towards the entrance in a lazy, upside-down manner. From this angle, it was easy to see her cutie mark: a flash of lightning in red, yellow and blue. “I had to drop off Tank at the vet’s on the way here.”

“At least give us a little more warnin’ next time, sugarcube. Y'all almost ran right smack into the guest of honor,” Applejack scolded.

“Yeah, yeah...” the aloof pegasus brushed off, before tilting her head backwards and, upon catching sight of Connor, flipped a one-eighty to right herself and flew down to his level. “So, you’re the guy everypony’s been talking about.”

Rainbow started to fly around the human in a slow circle, looking him over with her piercing magenta eyes like a predator sizing up its prey, while he just stood there, still recovering from almost having his head taken off.

“You know, you don’t look quite like what I was expecting,” she said after a few seconds.

“Well... what were you expecting?” came Connor's response.

“Dunno.” The cyan pegasus shrugged. “To hear the ponies in town say it, you look kinda like a shaved diamond dog.”

Rainbow Dash’s remark served to elicit a few half-concealed snickers from the gathered ponies, though Pinkie was the only one who audibly laughed. Suffice to say, Connor didn’t get the joke. “I take it that’s not exactly a flattering image.”

“Heh. Not a chance. Don’t worry, though, you don’t look that weird,” Rainbow said, though the inflection in her tone sure didn’t sound like a compliment. “Dig the outfit, though. It almost looks like something I’d wear.”

Apparently done with her appraisal, she came to ground, folding her wings to her sides as she shifted her attention to her fellow friends, leaving Connor to inwardly remark about how the seemingly-cavernous barn somehow seemed filled to capacity with all the activity. He thought for a moment about all the new faces present, and how even after the expected awkwardness of their first encounters, it was all over rather quickly, and he was left with the impression of being almost... welcome in their little circle. It wasn’t true in the literal sense, of course, as they had all barely gotten to know him yet.

Connor sighed, resigned to the fact that things were about to get much more difficult, very quickly. Unfortunately for him, it was proven just how quickly it would be as Twilight called for everyone’s attention by tapping one of her hooves loudly on the floor.

“Alright, girls, listen up,” the unicorn stated once her friends finished talking and trained their eyes on her. “Now, before we get everything started, I think that Connor has something he’d like to say.”

Unsettlingly, all those sets of large eyes turned on him, causing Connor to swallow out of reflex. “Uh... Thanks, Twilight.”

Thanks a lot.

Connor raised a hand to mouth and coughed a few times, then breathed in deep, building up the nerve to speak. “First of all, I guess, thanks for coming. Um... Thank you, Pinkie, for setting this up. I... appreciate it.”

“Yoooou’re welcome!” the party mare responded cheerily, positively radiating enthusiasm.

“Now, then. This is the part where I say... I know I’m not really like anything you’ve seen before.” The human self-consciously rolled his eyes. “Obviously. And there’s a reason for that.”

“Oh, you need not worry about it, darling,” Rarity spoke up. “I took the liberty of explaining, so I’m pretty sure most of us already know about humans and Amareica and so forth.

“Heh, thanks, Rarity. But...” He paused to send a brief, pleading glance at Twilight, who seemed to understand, and shot him a reassuring nod and a gentle smile. “There’s something you all need to know. I wasn’t... exactly... honest about that.”

Trying to ignore the mix of shock and confusion that ran through the ponies at this admission, particularly in Applejack, Connor sighed and pitched his head forward, resigned to telling an all-too-familiar story...


------------------------


It started innocently enough with him dropping the fact that he was not of this world quickly in order to get it out in the open, and drawing more than a few surprised gasps from everypony save Twilight and Spike. Connor was afraid that this alone would be enough to completely derail the already uncomfortable admission, and while there was one sudden interruption by a certain pair of incorrigible fillies, a quick shushing by their elders took care of that in short order.

From there, his audience was mercifully silent as he continued, flowing between the freak thunderstorm and the ethereal lights that led him to the rock formation that would derail his life, to waking up in Canterlot Palace and having an “enlightening” chat with the ruler of Equestria. From later that night, when he sat with Celestia and her sister and learned of exactly what his options were, and of his chances, admittedly intangible as they were, of returning home.

To the next day, where he was introduced to Twilight Sparkle, and how the events that followed culminated in her decision to let him stay at Golden Oak. How he would stay in Ponyville for the time-being, making connections that would help him stay grounded while the Princesses in Canterlot went about finding a solution to his dilemma. And that all led right to this moment, laying everything on the table for the friends that Twilight would go to any length in order to preserve, and hoping beyond hope that he wasn’t making a huge mistake.

“...and, so, here we are,” Connor wrapped up quickly, at this point staring at the floor from his seat on one of the hay bales with his hands folded, and trying to ignore the fact that his shirt was soaking through with sweat. “That’s it. The truth. End of story.”

Connor breathed out a final shaky breath, and against his better judgement, lifted his gaze to judge the reaction of his audience. For the most part, the ponies’ expressions were unreadable, as they tried to process the information he had given them, and presumably tried to make it fit into their understanding of the world.

They watched him for a tense few seconds, before finally, Applejack was the first to speak, getting up off her haunches to stand upright and address him. “Is... is all that really true?”

Connor sighed, but to his surprise, it was Twilight who stepped forward then, taking the opportunity to give him a well-deserved break from talking.

“Every word.” The violet pony nodded to her friends. “As he said, I went to Canterlot yesterday to talk with the Princess, and she assured me that’s exactly what happened. I’m ashamed to admit it, but that whole story about the ‘lightning spell’ over the city was just a cover. I swear, if I had known the truth, I wouldn’t have...”

“Oh, stop it, Twilight,” Rarity interrupted, catching the other unicorn before she got too emotional. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sure everypony understands why Celestia did what she did.”

“Yeah, but who cares about that?” said Rainbow, waving her hoof dismissively before turning her attention on Connor. “You’re actually an alien? And you came from another universe? And you rode in on a huge blast of light and crashed right into Canterlot Palace?”

“...More or less,” the human confirmed.

“That... is so...” The blue pegasus raised her forelegs to her face as it took on an expression of wonder. “...awesome.”

“Ah’ll say!” little Apple Bloom piped up from in front. “That’s an incredible story!”

“It sure is,” Sweetie Belle added, though she was decidedly less enthusiastic. “But why didn’t you just say so in the beginning? Why did you keep it a secret from me and my sister?”

“Look, I...” Connor attempted to explain, affected by the sad, almost betrayed look on the little filly’s face. “I’m sorry. It was never about lying or keeping secrets, I just... Well, think about it. What would happen if it was made publicly known that an extra-dimensional being had just appeared in Equestria out of thin air?”

Everypony was silent for a second as they wore thoughtful expressions, until Applejack spoke up hesitantly. “Well, if Ah had to guess, somethin’ like that’d prolly end up in every newspaper from here to Fillydelphia.”

“Exactly,” Connor said, pointing at the cowpony. “And I think we all agree nobody wants that kind of publicity.”

“Speak for yourself, darling,” Rarity commented loftily while she tossed her mane back with her foreleg. “But I do see your point.”

“And you’re really stuck here? You can’t go back?” Fluttershy queried, her tone denoting a hint of sadness at the state of affairs.

Connor swallowed again, his mouth dry, trying to choose the right words to say. “I... don’t know for sure. It’s probably impossible to know. But until I hear from Celestia whether or not she can do it, I have to keep hoping there’s a chance.”

“And that’s all anypony’s asking of you.” Twilight came up next to him, bringing up a hoof and patting him on the arm. She then turned to address her assembled friends. “So, how about it, everypony? Are we gonna help Connor feel welcome, or what?”

Without hesitation, they answered.

“Darn tootin’.”

“Ah will!”

“Me, too!”

“Eeyup.”

“A-absolutely.”

“Of course, dear.”

“Totally.”

“You betcha, Twi!”

Connor watched as each of the ponies (and one dragon) stepped forwards in turn, offering their unflinching support in favor of being friends with someone most of them hadn’t even met before that day.

The sincerity, the heartfulness... As dopey as it sounds, it was almost enough to cause him to tear up right there.

“I... Thanks, you guys. I mean it, this is just... really nice,” Connor said, trying to maintain his composure, until he happened to notice that one particular mare had yet to speak up. In fact, she hadn’t said a word since the human began his story, sitting cross-legged and wearing an expression of deep concentration as she held a pink hoof up to her chin. “What about you, Pinkie? You’ve been pretty quiet for a while now.”

“I know. I was just thinking,” she replied, looking up and focusing on him as if she had never stopped paying attention to what was going on. “If what you say is true, then a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party just isn’t gonna cut it. I need to throw you a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party! No, wait!” Pinkie’s eyes steadily widened, taking on a sparkling glimmer as she held up a hoof. “A ‘Welcome to Equis’ party! Noooo, even better!” the party mare gasped suddenly, and Connor could almost see her brain exploding as her thoughts came so a single, logical end. “A ‘Welcome to the UNIVERSE’ party!”

Pinkie shouted the last bit, throwing her forelegs up in a spastic display of excitement at the possibility, her far-too-wide grin in full effect. Then, suddenly, her legs dropped, and like a shift from day into night, her expression became deeply poignant again as her hoof went once again under her chin. “I’m gonna need a lot more balloons.”

At that, it finally ended up being too much for Connor...

...and he instantly burst out laughing. A pure, heartfelt, joyful laugh brought on directly by the off-the-walls absurdity displayed by the hyper pink pony, but more indirectly by just how good he was feeling just then. And he wasn’t alone, as the laughter was infectious, spreading around the room and simply filling the air with a shared feeling of mirth, until everyone was laughing so hard it felt like they would never stop.

Just like that, everything clicked, and there was nothing remaining of the nervous apprehension, the doubts and the worries, the fear of rejection or alienation, leaving Connor with the feeling that he had known these ponies his whole life.

Eventually, after a solid thirty seconds of nothing but gleeful cracking up, everyone managed to calm down to the point where they could actually try to speak, though Spike was the first one to attempt it.

“Well, uh... Heheh. You might wanna hold off on that for now, Pinkie,” he said, bringing up a claw to wipe the end of his snout and sniffing loudly. “After all, aren’t we supposed to be having a party right now?”

Pinkie gasped, her eyes shooting open. “You’re right, Spike!” With that, she got up and zoomed over to the turntable, still spinning away but making no sound. With a flick of her hoof, she tapped the needle just to the edge of the record, and once again the air was filled with vibrant, airy music. “IT'S PARTY TIME!”


------------------------


“So, let me get this straight,” Rarity asked, an amused expression lighting up her features. “On your world, everyone wears a full set of clothes... all the time?”

“Well, most of the time,” Connor replied, scratching at his forehead. “Definitely not like here. On Earth, in most places, anyway, walking around wearing nothing at all is considered ‘public indecency.’ In fact, it’s a crime.”

“No...” the fashionista gasped, before she got a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes, obviously imagining the commercial possibilities.

At this point, the party had been going on for a good half an hour, with Connor being the center of attention as an ever-changing lineup of ponies monopolized the space around the table he was sitting at, eager to hear more about this exciting place called “Earth.” But he didn’t mind so much. Unlike Twilight and Celestia, the questions being asked this time around were a lot less academic in nature.

They asked questions about what humans did for fun, what they ate and, most recently, what they wore, as well as topics such as famous places, interesting technology, and varieties of animals, including the typical Earth-native equines. There were also a few personal questions sprinkled in, regarding things like what he did for a living, where he went to school and specifically what he had been taught -- Twilight had asked those; she was particularly impressed with the fact that he knew calculus -- and what his home life was like.

While he was more than able to cope with questions of that specific nature, he was still a little afraid that it could get uncomfortable quickly. So he gave short answers without too much elaboration, and thankfully, his new friends didn’t press him much further on the issue.

All the while, the conversation was set to the sound of the music Pinkie had put on, and while understandably of the party fare, after a while Connor couldn’t help but feel the bland, samey pop tunes start to grate on his hearing. Eventually, when there was a lull in the talking as some ponies dispersed to either get more refreshments or have their own little conversations, Connor felt safe in pulling aside the party’s purveyor, who seemed to just be having the time of her life.

Then again, Connor got the impression that’s how she was all the time.

“Hey, Pinkie, can I ask you something?”

“Sure! You having fun?” Pinkie perked up, as if the question was loaded with the weight of the world to her.

“Oh, I’m having an absolute blast. I just wanna ask if there’s, well, something you could do about the music in here.”

The mare's ears drooped slightly. “Why? You don’t like it?”

“No, no.” Connor raised his hands, wanting to do anything but give that impression to his gracious host. “I was just wondering if you had anything else to play.”

“Oh, sure!” The pony’s mood returned in full force. “I got a buncha stuff over there. Tell ya what. Why don’tcha go take a look? Feel free to put on anything you like. It’s your party, after all.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that,” he returned with a nod, and Pinkie nodded back, still smiling, before she turned and went back to the party as Connor in turn made his way over to the turntable near the far wall.

He was by no means an expert in how turntables worked, but it definitely seemed simple enough: record plus needle equals music. Nestled next to the wide base of the machine and the two four-foot speakers at either side of it was a small cardboard box that was filled front to back with record sleeves. Connor bent down to leaf through the selection, absently looking at the covers with a slightly baffled attitude.

Weather Patrol? The Hoofbeats? Johnny Trombone and the Unicorn Trio? Man, I don’t know any of this stuff, he thought as he sifted through what was available, the colorful illustrations of scenery, ponies, and various instruments leaving no indication of what kind of music was actually contained within.

With a sigh, he placed the pile back in the box, mulling over his options. On a whim, he reached into the pocket of his coat and removed his iPod, looking at it thoughtfully. Thinking about it, he wished he could play some of his music; at least, the stuff that was appropriate for a party. It would’ve been nice to give his new friends a taste of Earth culture while he could, even if it meant sacrificing a few bars of battery life.

He considered this for a few more seconds, before a sudden presence beside him decided to make its presence known.

“What’re you doing, Connor?”

“Wah!” He jumped slightly, turning to see none other than Sweetie Belle, gazing curiously at what he held in his hands. “Oh, it’s just you, Sweetie.”

“What’s that thing?” The filly tilted her head, pointing a hoof at Connor’s iPod.

“Oh, this? It’s a bit of tech I brought with me from my world. It’s a music player.”

“Wow, really? Something that small?” She moved closer, sidling up to the human to get a better look at the device. “How does it work?

“Oh, it’s easy,” Connor explained, proceeding to demonstrate by turning it on. “First you click this button here, then slide this across here with your... uh...” His finger hovered over the unlocking graphic on the touchscreen, and he took a second to wiggle it bemusedly. “Well, anyway, you do that, then just tap the music icon to get to the songs.”

The pink and mulberry-maned pony watched intently as he went about the basics of browsing the varied selection available, stopping on his half a dozen playlists, one of which was very obviously titled, “Party Playlist.”

“Then you just tap the song and there it goes,” he finished, stopping short of actually playing something, but still leaving Sweetie thoroughly impressed.

“That’s really neat! I wish we had cool gadgets like that here in Equestria.” She paused a beat before speaking again. “Why’d you stop? Aren’t you gonna play something?”

“Well, that’s the thing: I only have one pair of headphones, and you can’t exactly play music for a party like that.” Connor chuckled lightly to himself, reaching out a hand to lay it on the cold metal of the speaker system. “Of course, it would be all too easy to just jack it into these things, but I seriously doubt it's compatible.”

“Why not? Did you even check?”

Connor shot the small pony an incredulous look, but then, started to wonder...

He stood back up, looking down at the turntable searching for what he expected to be some kind of “Audio Out” port. It didn’t take long to find, as there was indeed a plug on the lower right of the machine labeled just that. With an ounce of trepidation, he slowly reached down, grasping the plug firmly in hand before gently removing it from the slot.

Immediately, the music that was playing at that moment instantly cut out, drawing some surprised exclamations and questioning glances from the other partygoers, which caused Connor to wince sympathetically.

“Sorry, my bad. I’ll fix it,” he reassured them with an embarrassed smile. Returning his attention to the plug in his hand, he looked it over, and his eyes went wide with what he saw.

It looked like a typical audio jack; exactly as it should have, even though, in the face of all logic, it shouldn’t have.

No fucking way, he wondered, amazed at the coincidence. But then again... Hey, they speak English and somehow use silverware. I shouldn’t be surprised.

Connor raised the speaker jack in his right hand, iPod in his left, looking between the two. He then cracked a smile, shaking his head. Yeah, it would use up the battery, but as he looked at the meter in the upper-right corner, it was still just barely depleted. An hour or two wouldn’t hurt that much, and besides, it was a party.

“Hey, Sweetie, you’re in luck.” He turned to look down at the small unicorn as he inserted the plug into his iPod’s headphone slot. “Allow me to play you the songs of my people.”

It was a simple matter of bumping up the volume and pressing play, and then he put the gadget into sleep mode and placed it down on the turntable. As he left the music station and went to rejoin the party, grinning cheekily along the way, something the ponies were guaranteed never to have heard before started emanating from the speakers...


”Are you ready, Steve?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Andy?”

“Yeah.”

“Mick?”

“Okay.”

"Alright, fellas. Let's goooooo!"



------------------------


Oh, man, it all looks so good, Connor thought as he once again availed himself to the snack table. The sheer variety of cakes, chocolates, cupcakes, cookies, chips, dips, fruits, chocolate-covered fruits, chocolate-covered chocolates... truly a mind-boggling spread if there ever was one. He could’ve sworn he was getting a cavity just by being in proximity.

He’d sampled a few pieces of the party fare here and there beforehand -- especially Spike’s cookies, and Twilight had been right: they were delicious -- but hadn’t yet tried more than a fraction of what was available, and Connor was afraid of running out of room in his stomach before the night was over. Plate still in hand, he looked over and back again, still thinking about which one to grab next. Meanwhile, one of the ponies cantered up next to him outside his peripheral vision, though he didn’t know which particular one it was until she opened her mouth to speak.

“Wow. That sure is a loooot of food,” said the mare, but to Connor’s distinct surprise, the bubbly, enthusiastic voice did not belong to any of the ponies he had been introduced to earlier that night.

Turning around to look at her, Connor could see that this pony wasn’t one of Twilight’s friends; at least, not one that he was aware of. This particular pony was a pegasus, with light gray fur and a messy, pale blonde mane and tail. Her cutie mark, which was plainly visible, was a cloud of bubbles, for whatever reason.

“Uh... hi? Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Connor addressed the new arrival in a friendly way. “Are you one of Twilight’s friends?”

The mare’s ears perked with a start, and she turned her head to face him, a look of genuine surprise on her muzzle. That was when another thing about her became immediately apparent to the human: her eyes were looking in two completely different directions.

“Oh, hello!” the gray pegasus said cheerfully. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Uh...” Connor watched, slightly perplexed as one of the pony’s lopsided eyes trained on him, while the other just sort of slid lazily in the opposite direction. He shook it off, remembering his manners. “I’m Connor. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too!” she responded, smiling pleasantly. “My name’s Ditzy Doo!” Suddenly, her smile drooped a little, and her brow furrowed thoughtfully as she tilted her head. “But everypony calls me Derpy, for some reason. I don’t know why.”

Connor had to fake a coughing fit then and there to prevent from laughing inappropriately at a joke that the mare obviously didn’t get, judging from her vacant expression. “Are you okay, mister?”

“Yeah... yeah. Just... swallowed when I should’ve breathed.”

“That happens to me sometimes, too!” Ditzy noted, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. Then, she must have thought the conversation over, as she immediately turned back to the food on the table, face scrunched up in contemplation. “Aww, it doesn’t look like they have any muffins.”

“Uh, well...” Connor said, momentarily thrown off by the absentminded mare’s odd behavior, and her oddly specific craving. “There’s cupcakes,” he offered. “And you know what they say: a muffin is just a bald cupcake.”

Ditzy gasped audibly, and she turned back to Connor, a look of astonishment evident in her (still lopsided) yellow eyes. “I never thought of it that way. This changes everything! Thanks, mister!”

“You’re... welcome?” the teenager spoke cautiously, as the blonde-maned pegasus proceeded to load up a plate with three or four carefully considered cupcakes. She swiftly then scooped up the plate in her teeth and turned on the spot, balancing the food carefully as she trotted over to the exit, which was lying with one of the doors held wide open.

She stopped, right in front of the door that was closed, and flared her wings, as if preparing to take off. Then, she seemed to hesitate, blinking a few times, before slowly, carefully, sidestepping to the left. Now positioned towards open air, she then flapped a few times to gain altitude before shooting out into the night, unnoticed by anyone except for Connor, who was watching her with profound fascination.

Ooooookaaaaaay.

Whatever that was about, it was over now. Connor was just about to simply forget about it and chalk it up as yet another weird thing he had seen that day, when his brain took a moment to register just what song his iPod had chosen to start playing during his encounter with the appropriately named pegasus.


"...to appear sad... with the same 'ol decent lazy eye..."


“Oh, Goddammit.”

Face, meet palm.


------------------------


“...and then she says, ‘No! Not my barrel, that barrel!’”

Rainbow delivered the punchline of her joke with a dramatic waving of her forelegs, causing a wave of snickers and laughter to pass through the ponies in the vicinity. Namely, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity. Connor, however, merely chuckled out of courtesy, the entirety of the joke having blown over his head without the proper context. To be fair, though, he missed a good half of the build up, as he was focused on listening to one particular song while his iPod merrily marched through his playlist.

As Connor quietly sipped from his cup of fruit punch, the cyan mare shot him a look of annoyance. “Oh, come on. That was funny! Why aren’t you laughing?” she accused him, sounding almost insulted.

“Sorry, Rainbow. I guess I just don’t have the right cultural background to understand the meaning,” he offered.

The pegasus tilted her head. “Huh?”

“He doesn’t get the joke,” Twilight leaned forwards to clarify.

“Whaaat? But it’s a classic!” Rainbow exclaimed disbelievingly.

“I said I was sorry,” Connor repeated, amused at least by the boastful pony’s overblown reaction.

“Ain’t your fault, sugarcube,” Applejack assured him, before sending a sly smirk in the pegasus’ direction. “‘Sides, Rainbow ain’t nearly as funny as she thinks she is.”

“Oh, really, AJ?” Rainbow countered, folding her forelegs. “I’d like to see you do better.”

“I have an idea,” Rarity spoke up. “Why doesn’t Connor tell a joke that he knows?”

All eyes turned to Connor as the other ponies voiced their agreement with this idea. Put on the spot, he only faltered for a moment to put down his drink and raise a hand to scratch his chin.

“Hmm... Well, I do know one that’s pretty good.” Connor cleared his throat in preparation, all four of the others listening intently. “Okay. So, one day, a... pony is walking down the side of the street, along the tall, white fence of a mental institution.”

The human paused in order to ask if Equestria even had mental institutions. A quick nod from Twilight served as his answer, and he continued where he left off.

“Along the way, he can hear strange chanting coming from the other side of the fence. ‘Ten! Ten! Ten!’” Connor punctuated his example by pumping his fists with each word. “Curious, the pony stops when he finds a hole in the fence, and peers through it, wondering what’s going on. Suddenly, a pointy stick comes out of the hole, and pokes him right in the face!”

Connor stopped just for a beat to produce a bit of dramatic tension before delivering the punchline: “‘Eleven! Eleven! Eleven!’”

It took a few seconds, but eventually, everypony understood the meaning, though each of them reacted in their own way. Three of the ponies raised a hoof to their face: Twilight’s to the bridge of her snout, closing her eyes and groaning; Applejack’s to the front of hers, stifling a few giggles; and Rarity’s accompanied by a gasp, put off by the apparent crudeness of deriving humor from a pony’s theoretical injury.

As for Rainbow Dash, she had by far the most overblown reaction of the quartet. Her lips sputtered out and she clenched her eyes, bowling over with laughter. It was forceful enough that she ended up banging a hoof on the top of the table repeatedly as she continued guffawing.

Unfortunately for Connor, it was also far too much for his drink to handle, and the pegasus’ actions caused it to unceremoniously tip over, spilling its contents all over his hands and the front of his jacket.

“Oh, what the!? Way to go, Rainbow!” he cursed in annoyance, standing up and shaking his hands free of the sugary liquid.

“I’m s-sorry!” she stuttered, still trying to regain her composure by breathing in short bursts. “I didn’t m-- hahaha... mean to do that.”

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked Connor.

“Yeah, just... man, now this coat’s gonna get all stained and... blegh.” Connor reached out for some napkins lying on the table, trying to soak up as much of the punch as he could before it set in. “And after all the work Rarity put into it.”

“Oh, you have nothing to worry about, darling!” the white unicorn replied, surprisingly uncaring of the fact that her most recent commission was just sullied. “In fact, I was meaning to bring up something I forgot to mention back at the boutique. You see, in light of your ‘wardrobe issues,’ I took the liberty of weaving a few enchantments I know into the fabric as I was sewing it. You’ll find that everything you’re wearing is, to a certain degree at least, stain-proof, wrinkle-proof, odor-resistant, and also water-repellent.”

“Wow, really? All that?” Connor questioned, taking notice of the fact that as he mopped up the spill, none of it appeared to be sticking to his clothes. “That’s really convenient. Thank you, magic!”

“Yes, indeed. Although I should also mention that the spells aren’t permanent; they’ll only last a week or so.”

“That’s fine. Thanks anyways.” Connor nodded, though now he was looking at his hands and trying to wipe them off on the napkins unsuccessfully, an unpleasant look on his face. “But my hands are still all messy. Is there somewhere I can go to wash them?”

“Sure thing, Connor,” Applejack spoke up, raising a hoof as she prepared to give directions. “Y'all can go right into the house and use the restroom. From the front door, take a left, then a right, then you’ll see it plain as day. Please try to keep it down, though; Granny Smith is sleepin’ upstairs.”

“I’ll be careful, thanks,” Connor assured her. stepping back from the table. “Be right back.”

With that, Connor swiftly excused himself from the party and ducked through the wide barn doors and into the open outside. The sudden chill caused him to shiver briefly, before he looked around for the large building that served as the Apple Family’s main residence. Humming a light tune to himself as the sounds of the party faded in the background, he fast-walked across the small, grassy field between the barn and the house, the unobstructed moon and stars above offering plenty of light to see by.

As he came up to the house, also painted red and stylistically similar to the barn, he took the steps up the front porch two at a time, sneakers thudding heavily on the wood until he reached the top. Connor stopped on the spot, then remembering that he was supposed to try and keep the noise down, before he reached for the door and quietly let himself in.

Despite the only source of light being the sky outside, the inside of Applejack’s house still seemed comfortably quaint and cozy. The walls were papered in a subdued green-on-blue color scheme, continuing with the apple motif, as the shelves and floor around him were occupied by plenty of carved wooden furniture, framed pictures, and family knickknacks. All in all, it was a very homey place, standing in contrast to the orderly, almost businesslike affair of Twilight’s library.

After he felt like he had taken a good enough look around, Connor then recalled AJ’s directions, navigating his way down the halls of the house until he found what he was looking for. Once there, it was a simple matter of walking in, flipping on the light, washing up, drying his hands, and turning the light back off before leaving the bathroom and softly closing the door behind him, all accomplished in under a minute as he was eager to return to the festivities.

Once again braving the cold night air, he slipped out of the townhouse, cutting back across the field in a brisk jog. Reaching the threshold of the barn, one thing became clear to him: at that moment, his playlist had apparently just started to play "Flathead" by the Fratellis.

And as he peeked his head in through the door, another thing became clear: the ponies inside were dancing to “Flathead” by the Fratellis.

Still unnoticed, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of half a dozen equine forms moving in time with the music, utterly without shame and appearing to be enjoying themselves immensely. Pinkie especially seemed to be the most prolific of the group, sashaying about to the beat with wild abandon, twirling and dipping in perfect sync with the song as if she had rehearsed it beforehoof.

But to him, even more surprising than the fact that Twilight was also taking part in moving her hooves was that a certain yellow pegasus was not among them. Instead, she was sitting by herself at one of the nearby tables. Although, it was obvious she wasn’t feeling at all left out as she watched her friends cut loose with the touch of a smile on her face; she simply appeared to be sitting this one out.

Connor subtly reentered the barn, careful to stay clear of the flurry of activity in the center, and made his way over to where Fluttershy was, hooves in her lap as she noticed him come closer.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked the mare rhetorically as he motioned to a nearby hay bale.

“...No, you can take it,” she replied, nodding slowly and fidgeting a little in her own seat while Connor accepted the invitation.

He propped an elbow up on the table, and tried to make conversation as the two of them continued to watch the show. “So, Fluttershy, why are you over here all by yourself?” he asked innocently, though from what he could judge of her personality, it wasn’t hard to imagine.

“Oh... I’m just not much of a dancer, really. I’m fine right here.”

“Yeeeah, me neither. I’m not about to go making a fool of myself in front of you guys when we’ve only just met.”

The pegasus nodded once, using a hoof to softly move the mane out of her eyes, but saying nothing more.

After a while, Connor spoke up again. “Hey, you mind if I ask you something?”

“Um... no, go ahead,” Fluttershy said hesitantly, though the thought seemed to make her a smidgen more uncomfortable.

“Okay. Not accusing you or anything, here, but why were you being so... What’s the word?” The teenager paused, trying to think of something innocuous enough. “...‘timid’ when I first arrived?”

The yellow mare’s eyes turned downwards as she talked softly. “Oh, it’s not... I mean, it’s not you, it’s me. I’m just... usually not very good at dealing with new things,” she explained, hunching her shoulders as she shuffled her hooves together. “I was just nervous. I guess I’m still nervous, really. I’m sorry."

“Please, you don’t need to apologize, I understand,” Connor said quickly, afraid that he was hurting her feelings by her own admission. “In fact, I was pretty nervous too before I got here.”

“Really?” At this, Fluttershy looked up at him, mildly surprised.

“Oh, yeah. Almost petrified,” he went on, embellishing just a bit. “I was worried about what all of you might think of me, you know, being what I am and coming from where I do. Of course, I was proven wrong. You’ve all been really great so far.”

“That’s... that’s good. Thank you. That’s nice of you to say.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The two of them were silent for a time, producing a slight amount of awkward tension before it was broken, unexpectedly, as Fluttershy was the one to speak up. “Can I ask you something?” the pony queried, the shyness in her expression momentarily replaced by one of measurable empathy.

“By all means.”

“How are you? Are you doing okay?” From the cautious inflection in her voice, she clearly cared deeply about what she was asking, and was intently focused on his answer.

“I don’t understand,” Connor said, thrown off by the curveball of a question and the apparent weight behind it in the eyes of the fretful pegasus.

“I mean, how are you feeling, about being so far away from your home?”

“Oh... that.” Connor’s expression fell, as he realized just what exactly Fluttershy was getting at.

“I’m sorry. I only ask because, well... I noticed earlier, when you were asked about your family. You weren’t exactly, um... forthcoming.”

Connor breathed deeply, scratching his head and thinking for a while as the yellow mare waited patiently, never taking her gentle eyes off him. “Yeah. It’s difficult sometimes, to think about it,” he divulged, folding his hands in front of him. “I’m coping as best I can, but... it’s still always there, you know? I can’t just forget about it, even when I want to.”

“I understand.” Fluttershy nodded her head solemnly, as she went back to observing her friends out on the dance floor. “I couldn’t imagine being in that kind of situation, myself. My friends are like family, they mean the world to me; I couldn’t bear to be separated from them. I don’t know how you can manage.”

“Well, I’m trying.” He breathed in and let it out in a puff. “I’m doing the best I can.”

“Don’t worry,” Fluttershy spoke up, turning back to face him and displaying almost none of her shy nature as her tone turned motherly and reassuring. “Everything will turn out just fine. I know it will, and we all have your back.”

“Thanks,” Connor uttered, managing to turn up a smile at the pony’s attempt to comfort him. He then chuckled lightly, a thought having occurred to him.

“What is it?” The pegasus tilted her head, curious as to what he found amusing.

“Now that I think about it, in some ways, I should consider myself lucky.”

“How so?”

“Well, when I touched that rock back on Earth, I suppose it’s possible that I could’ve ended up anywhere,” he explained. “And yet, this is the place I turn up. And not only am I still alive, I found folks who are more than willing to help me out, even though I really have nothing to give in return. All things considered, things have actually been going pretty well, so far.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof to her chin, thinking for a moment, before she smiled warmly at the human. “And they can only get better from here,” she added sagely, causing Connor to utter a short laugh.

“Careful now, don’t jinx it.”

Fluttershy returned the gesture, then went back to watching the rest of the party. Connor too was intent on doing the same, wondering when exactly the other ponies would happen to tire out, as the original song had ended a good couple of minutes past.

And yet, alas, fate chose exactly that moment to turn cruel, as the train of good feelings suddenly and abruptly gave way to a spiking, throbbing pain centered directly on Connor’s forehead.

“Ugh... Goddammit, not now.”

Fluttershy, shocked at the sudden turn of phrase, shifted to face him again, noticing that he was holding a hand to his head and was grimacing in discomfort. “W-what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” she asked urgently, leaning forwards.

“It’s... ugh... It’s nothing, just a really bad headache,” Connor replied through grit teeth. It was all it took for him not to grind them, as instead of the dull throbbing he had experienced earlier in the day, it now felt like a hot poker was slowly pressing into his skull. “I’ve been getting them since I got here, but they’ve never been as bad as this one.”

“Oh, my...” Fluttershy’s hooves shot to her muzzle out of worry. “Is there something I can do to help? Do you want me to get the others?”

“No, no.” Connor reached out a hand to calm her down before she got too flustered at his expense. He then reached into his pants pocket, taking out the bottle of pills he had been carrying with him the whole day. “Twilight gave me these. They help... a little.”

Gently, in order to prevent blood rushing to his head and making the migraine even worse, he stood up from his seat, clenching his eyes a few times to try and relieve the pressure.

“Listen, I’m gonna go get some more punch to wash these down with,” he explained, one hand holding the canister and the other massaging his temples. “Want me to get you anything while I’m over there?”

“Oh, no... I’m fine, thanks,” Fluttershy said bashfully, looking back down at her hooves. “I hope you feel better.”

“Heh, you and me both.”

Trying his best to avoid aggravating his current condition, Connor left the yellow mare behind him and made his way over to the table, all the while feeling the pain in his head somehow increase with every step.

Jesus Christ! It was never this bad before! Why now? What the hell is going on? he thought through the pain, his own internal voice nearly drowned out by the sound of every heartbeat coursing through his ears like a raging torrent.

He thought the earlier such events he had been having throughout the day were painful, but this felt like something different entirely. Before he had come to Equestria, what he would have considered a bad headache then would have been a mosquito bite compared to whatever he was feeling at this moment.

He was breathing heavily now, his mouth unpleasantly dry as he started to feel sweat percolating up and down his body in the time it took him to take only a dozen steps to the snack table. But to him, it definitely felt like a lot more than that. To Connor, every step now felt like he was trudging through molasses, his limbs weighted with lead.

As he took a final, stumbling step up to the table, he now had to use both of his arms to prop himself up, taking short lungfuls of air through his nose, and feeling as if he was going to throw up with each exhale. Through the mind-numbing haze that now dominated his temples, he struggled to even remember what he had gotten up to do.

Ugh... What was... Oh, right... medicine... was all he could spare as he poured what was left of his focus into a single task.

Taking a breath and holding it, it was a supreme effort to balance himself as he took his hands off the table and brought them together around the orange medicine bottle. Connor’s hands shook of their own accord as he fumbled with the lid, just barely managing to pop it off before a flash of white-hot lightning tore through his already battered psyche.

As the bottle fell to the table, spilling its contents, time slowed to a crawl. As soon as it came, the angry, unimaginable spike of pain passed, leaving Connor shellshocked as he struggled to stay conscious now, his surroundings starting to blend into a kind of tunnel vision effect.

“What... the--”

Another flash. Another pang of agony coursing through his spine and radiating up into his forehead, feeling almost as if something was pushing its way out of his skull. The tunnel deepened as sensation started to fade, the sounds of the party falling away as Connor jerkily stepped back from the table.

He wanted to cry out, wanted to call for help now, but his mouth wouldn’t move -- his throat seized up. The pain crowded out everything. There was barely room to think, let alone do anything but try to stay upright. And even that now was a challenge, as Connor could feel his grasp on consciousness slipping, while at the same time he could sense another bolt of fresh torment gearing up to finish the job.

I... can’t...

Connor never got a chance to finish that thought.

He was out cold before he even hit the ground.


------------------------


Time and time again, Twilight somehow always ended up being surprised by her eccentric pink earth pony friend. As impossible as it seemed, she would inevitably end up throwing parties that were always better than her last. But then again, maybe that was all on her, as every day spent with any of her fellow Elements of Harmony typically felt better than the last.

Regardless, it was hard to feel anything but positive as the air itself felt charged with happy vibes. And what wasn’t there to feel good about? She had managed to introduce Connor to all of her friends, freed herself from worry over having to obfuscate any details from them, and best of all, everything just seemed to be working out.

Since the party had started, her human friend had been able to shed his understandable -- if slightly overblown -- inhibitions, and simply enjoy himself in the company of her and her friends. They seemed to be getting along great, and everypony had found something to like about the visitor from Earth, allowing Twilight to let loose a little and simply enjoy the fruits of Pinkie’s talent after a stressful couple of days.

All of this led up to her near-spontaneous decision to, at her friends’ urging, join in on the activity taking place in the center of the floor: a carefree, "anything goes" dancing event set to music performed by bands and musicians that were literally unlike anything she had heard before.

Twilight had to be honest, at first she was a little worried about the implications as soon as Connor figured out how he could hook up his small computer gadget thing to Pinkie’s sound system, allowing him to exhibit songs from his world for the enjoyment of the assembled guests. But she soon felt her fears unfounded after the first couple of tracks, which were actually quite catchy and entertaining.

And, she had to admit, some of them were indeed quite danceable to.

Although, so focused was she on carefully managing the placement of her hooves so as to not trip over herself on accident, neither she, or any of her friends for that matter, noticed when their newest companion got up from his seat next to Fluttershy, clutching his head and grimacing.

Nor did they notice his very obvious state of distress as he shambled over to the refreshment table and propped himself up on it like he was about to pass out.

In fact, the only time they realized something was wrong was when the sound of the music pumping through the air was overcome by a noise not unlike a heavy sack of potatoes hitting the ground, followed by a shrill exclamation.

“OHMYGOSH!”

Suddenly, everything came into focus, and everypony was shaken out of their reverie as they turned their attention to Fluttershy, who had instantly shot up in the air and was flying over to where Connor now lay.

Splayed over on the hay-strewn floor. Unmoving.

There was a stampede of hooves over the ground as everypony came over to where all the commotion was happening, except for Pinkie, who, in an appropriate move, rushed over to the turntable to power off the speakers and allow for clear silence before joining the others. Gathered in a small cluster, the barn was alive with confusion at what had just occurred.

“Ohymygoshohmygoshohmygosh!”

“What in tarnation!?”

“What happened!?”

“Girls, calm down!”

“Is Connor alright?”

“Is he hurt?”

“What’s going on here?”

“Girls!”

Twilight’s forceful shout did its job, silencing the din of questions long enough for her to try and sort everything out. With all of the ponies’ faces wearing expressions of shock and worry to match her own, Twilight nonetheless tried to get a handle on the situation and talk down her fretful pegasus friend, who herself seemed on the verge of hysterics.

“Calm down, Fluttershy. What happened? What did you see?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” the yellow mare uttered quickly, hovering a few feet over Connor’s limp body and trying her best not to hyperventilate. “H-he was complaining about a-a-a headache, and then got up to get s-something to drink, and th-then he looked like he was in pain and-and then he just f-fell over! Oooooh, is he okay? Please be okay!”

“Everypony, make some room.” Twilight assumed a deadly serious expression as her friends obeyed, allowing her enough space to get up close.

“Well, Twilight? Do you know what’s wrong?” Pinkie Pie spoke up, bearing no trace at all of the bouncy, happy mare she usually was.

“Not yet, give me a moment,” the unicorn answered as her horn lit up with a ghostly purple aura, and she gently lowered towards the human, passing it back and forth down his form. After a couple of sweeps, her horn dimmed, and her brow furrowed in concentration. “I don’t understand. He’s definitely alive, and he doesn’t appear to be injured, but I can’t sense anything else.”

The lavender mare took a step forwards, placing a hoof over Connor’s side. “Somepony help me turn him over.”

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac, and he swiftly made his way to the side opposite Twilight, levering a hoof underneath Connor’s body as gingerly as he could.

On the count of three, they lifted, gently, and turned the human boy onto his back. Immediately apparent was his face, as it was flushed red and slick with sweat. In addition, his glasses lay askew, bent back at one of the hinges while one of the lenses remained on the floor, having been forced out of its wire frame. In short, he looked a long way from okay.

With a touch of hesitation, Twilight reached out her hoof again, laying it against Connor’s neck. She gasped lightly. “I don’t know much about human anatomy, but I’m pretty sure his pulse isn’t supposed to be going that fast,” she explained, her voice fraught with worry. “And he’s got a fever. He’s burning up.”

Slowly, she shifted her touch up to his forehead to get a better feel for his temperature. But once there, she felt something else that caught her breath in her throat. “What’s...?”

“What is it, Twilight?” asked Apple Bloom, balancing on the tips of her hooves to try and get a better view.

“Yeah, tell us!” piped up Sweetie.

Hesitantly, Twilight slowly brushed her hoof across Connor’s head, moving his brown hair out of the way.

What it revealed drew a startled gasp from all in attendance.

“Ooooooh...” Rainbow cringed. “That is one nasty-looking bump. He must’ve hit his head pretty hard.”

“Rainbow,” Twilight muttered, shaking her head slowly. “I... don’t think that’s a normal bump.”

Rarity took a step forward, her expression disbelieving. “Twilight? Surely you can’t be suggesting...”

The Element of Magic was silent for another moment, eyes shifting rapidly as she tried to get a grasp on what exactly she was looking at. After a while, though, her characteristics hardened, and she shook her head again, this time more forcefully.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on... But I do know one thing for sure.” Twilight looked up, a flash of urgency and determination coming across her features. “We need to get him to the hospital, now.”