When I came too, I was laying in a bed way to short for a human; I had a headache from hell and felt the familiar dehydration of a hangover. My shirt was also missing..."I must have thrown up on it" I thought; then reality set in. I was staring at a brightly colored celing made of marble stone; just like the walls. I then realized I was in a small four walled bedroom; there were very few furnishings in the room aside from just a drawer and several red pillows. "Where the hell is the light coming from" I asked nobody in particular; "and where the hell am I" From an open door somebody heard me.
"Hey everypony!" A strangely familiar voice shouted. "I think the strange monkey creature is awake."
"Strange monkey wha..."
A pink pony bounced in from the doorway followed nervously by a group of ponies I knew all to well.
"Ok; I'm dreaming" I said. "You are?" Pinkie pie asked "but if your dreaming then I'm dreaming; and if I'm dreaming then I must be asleep; and if I'm asleep I'm actually still at home; which means-" "Your not dreaming Pinkie Pie," the purple alicorn I knew as Twilight from the show said, "and neither is...our friend here"
I was getting the weirdest stare from all the ponies; all except from Fluttershy; who had remained by the threshold of the door. I was defiantly dreaming; I usually had vivid dreams and I looked around the room still not saying a word. It was an awesome dream at least; too bad I had to wake up eventually.
"Where's my shirt" I finally asked.
"You understand us?" Twilight asked; studying me inquisitively.
"Yea of course I do."
I wasn't sure how to take the situation. Should I tell them that I know them? How would they react?
"What are you?" Rainbow Dash asked. It was weird knowing them so well and them not having a clue what I was or where I was from. But it was a dream; so whatever their reaction would be it wouldn't matter in the morning. I decided to play along and enjoy the dream.
"I'm a human," I replied, "from Earth"
"Never heard of that place, or what ever a human is." Applejack said.
"What's that red mark on your chest," Pinkie Pie chirped. Is that where hu..mans get their cutie marks?"
"No; but its hard to explain." I replied. I didn't think they would understand tattoos.
I scooted to the edge of the bed causing the quivering Fluttershy to back further away from the doorway. I noticed several of my things from my room and remembered being hit by a few things when I had landed on the marble floor. "That was weird" I thought, "but it's still got to be a dream." "So," I started to ask, "how did I get here? And where is my shirt?"
"You mean that tacky cloth you where wearing?" Rarity replied. "I don't think you'll wantting that back." she said in a rather disgusted tone.
"Thought so." I said to nobody.
"I think Princess Celestia could better explain why you are here" Twilight said. We should take you to go see her; she's been waiting for you to wake up."
Cool, I was going to meet dream Celestia. I wondered when I was going to wake up; dream or not I wasn't going to see the Princess shirtless, I still had manners after all. I felt a little embarrassed at the thought that my first appearance in dream Equestria was me passed out and covered in vomit. I could at least make a better appearance the second time around.
"I'd rather be wearing something if I'm going to meet your princess." I said.
Rarity was already going through the drawer with her magic "at least somepony has some manners; Ill see what I can find."
* * *
Two minutes later I was walking down a large hallway in what I presumed to be Canterlot Castle wearing jeans and a white robe; Apparently it was all they could find. Rarity was obviously sharing my concern; it wasn't just tacky; but it made me look ridiculous as well. The robe was designed for ponies, who in comparison to me were the size of a large adult dog. It was small on me; and painfully feminine. The stone hallway was surprisingly large for the size of the ponies that occupied it. "I must really be out right now," I thought to myself, "this dream is surprisingly accurate."
We continued down the hallway followed closely behind by the still silent and scarred Fluttershy; I didn't want to call them by name so I waited to address them until formal introductions had been made. I made eye contact with Twilight to get her attention.
"Is she scared of me?" I motioned to Fluttershy.
"Oh she'll come around," Twilight replied "We've never seen a creature like you before; and were all pretty scared when you suddely appeared and..ugh, violently heaved on the floor."
That didn't sit well in my head. I felt my still aching skull and found a bump on the back of it. This was starting to feel very real; that also didn't sit well. "What did she mean by suddenly appeared?" I thought to myself. I held my questions for now and We came to a stop at two massive overly decorated wooden doors; two unicorn ponies in armor flanked both sides and were stareing at me intently. "They are probably laughing at my unique style of clothing," I thought to myself, or perhaps they were waiting for me to make a threatening move; seeing as I towered over them a good two feet. Twilight addressed one of them and he used his magic to open the double doors. I waited for all the other ponies to enter; all that is except Fluttershy, who still hung back.
The Throne room was just like it was in the sho,; a long red carpet flanked by pillars and stain glass windows depicting Equestrian history, including the recent accomplishments of Twilight and her friends, led to a pair of thrones occupied by none other than Celestia and Luna. Two armored earth ponies flanked each side as well. There was a stain in the middle of the carpet. "I sure do know how to make an entrance." I thought, looking at the poor pony assigned to clean it up, a look of anger in his eyes.
The two regal sisters eyed me with emotionless faces, silently judging me as we approached. Celestia was the first to break the silence.
"Welcome back my little ponies, I see our new guest is awake."
I suppressed the urge to say "oh she said it she said it" in reference to a family guy joke I knew none of the ponies would understand. I was still convinced I was dreaming so "awake" didn't describe me; but I still played along. All the ponies bowed so I followed suit. When we stood again Celestia continued.
"Greetings to you creature of the cosmos; my sister Luna and I welcome you to Equestria. I'm sure you have many questions and we will do our best to answer them; However the magic used to summon you here is beyond our understanding and I'm afraid we can only explain why you are here, not how."
"Summoned? Why the hell would I be summoned here?" I reminded myself this was only a dream. The doors behind us closed and I heard a lock clink shut. Dream Celestia didn't trust me either; It only made sense. I probably struck them as a monster. I wasn't sure what to ask at first but as she explained; the magic used to summon me here was too much to explain anyway; so I didn't waste her time.
"I'd like to know why I'm here your highness." I finally asked.
"Very well then." she started to speak; and the more she did the more I understood possibly why I now was in Equestria.
* * *
I sat and listened to the current situation of Equestria as Celestia and Luna explained to me the resurgence of the changelings. The violent attacks on the outer settlements, the impostors infiltrating governmental infrastructure, and the inability of Equestria to respond properly to the situation due to the lack of experience the otherwise peaceful land of Equestria had with the whole ordeal. I was told of the spell that was cast to search for help from a world outside their own; and that it was the spell itself that had chosen me; not the casters. It made a bit of sense to me; for being a concept in a dream that is.
I all to well understood the situation that Equestria was now facing. Classic terrorism; control and weaken people through fear; operating in cells and attacking with precision and then retreating before a proper response could be organized. All this was horrifying to me; that these peaceful ponies who live to love and help each other were being subjected to this type of violence pissed me off quite a bit; in the way that seeing a man beat up his spouse or a parent abuse a kid would infuriate most people.
"But why me?" I inquired. "There are hundreds of more people, I mean humans in my world more qualified than me handle this situation princess."
"The spell has several criteria for summoning," She explained. "It searches for some..one who has knowledge of the crisis in our world and who has experience in the situation. It also searches for someone who has knowledge of our world"
She could see the surprise in my eyes.
"Which brings me to believe you have some understanding of our world; whatever it may be. I believe it is our turn to ask the questions now." She said to me.
"I didn't see this one coming," I thought as she waited for me to speak. She knew all along that I had some knowledge of where I was an yet had said nothing to anypony. All the other ponies looked surprised at this. Fluttershy looked up at me intently for the first time; it was time for me to get grilled for answers. I doubted they'd believe me or take my explanation well; then again this was a magical land full of talking ponies. I started to doubt this was a dream at all; despite the sheer impossibility of standing in a magical land that only existed as a cartoon for little girls in my world I had to determine dream from reality. I felt the bump on my head again; It defiantly hurt.
"If I may; your highness, this is almost impossible for me to believe, my being here that is. I feel like I'm in a dream!"
Pinkie Pie went into action quickly. "Its easy to see if your in a dream! Just have someone do this!"
She was in my face before I realized it.
"What the- ouch!" She pinched me; real hard; and with hooves somehow. "What was that for?" I demanded.
"If you think your dreaming have somepony in your dream pinch you" she said cheerfully. "if you don't wake up; then your not asleep! Wanna try again?"
"No!" I quickly retorted" "I mean, this has to be a dream! Your world only exists as a made up story in mine how is this possible?"
I didn't know how to feel. I was in shock; I felt my body over and looked around, everything did seem very real, at least all my senses were responding as they did in reality.
"There are other ways to tell too," Pinkie Pie continued. " If you fall off something; you usually-" I cut her off mid sentence.
"No, its ok Pinkie Pie, just give me a minute to take this all in."
At the sound of her name everpony gasped. They all appeared startled with the exception of Celestia; who continued to silently judge me. Luna spoke up next.
"Sister, if he were, if we were dreaming surly I would know. I am the warden of dreams"
"Our situation is very real I'm afraid dear sister." Celestia said.
Pinkie Pie's jaw extended to the floor WAY beyond the boundaries of physical possibility.
"You...know...my...name..." she stuttered.
"I do, I know all your names, I know a lot about Equestria" I explained. "I know your enemy as well. I'll explain, but I doubt you'll like the reason"
I noticed that Rarity had fainted. "My second impression was also a bust. Man I suck at introductions, I appear, soil myself, than scare everypony." I thought as I mentaly kicked myself. I owed them an explanation so I began. I didn't think they would understand what a TV show was so I did my best to relate to their world.
"Your world exists as a fairy tale of sorts in mine. Your stories are presented to us in order to teach us the lessons you learn throughout your struggles."
"Ya'll mean to tell me you know everything about us?" Applejack asked.
"Like every book I read?" Twilight added
"Or my supersecretspectacularlyamazing recipe for my birthday cakes?"
"Or howmany arguments Angle Bunny and I have" Squeaked a voice sofar unheard from. We all turned to Fluttershy who looked embarrassed. Rarity had recovered by now and had a look of uncertainty on her face; she had a secret she thought was compromised as well.
"No, you girls have it all wrong" I assured them. "these stories are chronicles of all the adventures you share together. I don't know anything private; just what you've overcome together and the lessons you've learned in friendship"
"So all the cool parts" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yup" I replied "especially the sonic rainboom"
"That's...so...awesome!" She squeed. "Does everybody love it?"
"Eeeyyuup!" I answered again; doing my best impression of Big Mac; getting a funny look from Applejack. I chuckled internally; I had to have some fun with this.
"This opens up even more questions then," Luna said, breaking the awkward pause. "Tell us, what sort of creature are these humans. What sort of world do you live in that would experience this level of violence on a daily basis?"
"How is it that our story has come into your world?" Celestia added.
"Well, in my world harmony and friendship are not values as upheld as they are in Equestria, we are a race inclined to selfishness and violence based on opposed ideals and identities."
I explained wars and survival, governments and crime; these things Equestria had seen but not on the level we see on a daily basis. I then explained my experience as a Marine; my time in Afghanistan, my struggles, and anything I thought was relevant. They all sat silently and took it in; and the look on Celestia's face showd that she had put it all together. After I was finished explaining she came to her conclusion on why the spell had chosen me.
"It appears that our worlds exist in a larger plane of reality," she started. I was familiar with the multiverse theory and apparently so was she, I noticed Twilight was taking notes. Everpony else was listening intently as well, everypony that was, except Rainbow who seemed bored out of her mind and was laying down with her hooves holding up her face.
"In this multiverse all realities exist at once. If we exist as a story in your world, we exist as your stories describe us in ours. The spell reached out to you because of your knowledge of our world, and your experiences in yours"
"As much sense as that makes your highness," I replied, "there are still many others with the same qualifications as me."
"As I said before, we don't understand the spell fully," she answered. "It may have found something else in you that tied you to this world. I assure you, further study is being conducted."
Twilight's face lit up, I knew she wanted in on the studying and I hated to pull her away from that, but I knew the longer we stood here, the more Equestria suffered.
"Well, if this really is all real, then the threat is real, so we need to get started right away" I said to everypony in the room. It was time to find out exactly what I was dealing with...