"Daniel, wake up." I heard a feminine voice say.
I cracked an eye open, shifted slightly in the bed, and groaned as I raised a hand up to my face, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I sat up and looked towards the wall, spotting a clock on it.
“It’s six in the morning.” I deadpanned, looking around the room for the culprit, but realized that nobody was in the room.
The fuck? Am I hearing voices now?
I shook my head and shifted to the edge of the bed, placing my feet on the cold floor. After a few seconds of preparing for a lot of pain, I stood up, and realized I didn’t feel anything. A bit of discomfort from the fact that I was nude, and the fact that the floors are cold as fuck.
I ignored the cold floor as I took a few steps to the window and closed the curtains to give myself some privacy, before stretching. I groaned softly as a few pops and cracks came from various joints in my body, and a satisfied sigh escaped my lips. I peeked from behind the curtains after feeling properly awake, and saw that the town was still in the midst of waking up themselves.
A few ponies were on the streets, walking themselves to work or simply sitting out on chairs that lined the street, eating and drinking. The sun was starting to kiss the horizon, so I nodded to myself as I started to look around the room.
Apparently I still had my iPod and headphones here, which were sitting in a drawer on the nightstand by themselves. Together they were one of the few things that I packed in my bag that wasn’t just clothes. I pressed the power button on it and it flashed on. The battery was still full, which was just odd to me.
Hasn’t it just been sitting here for the past week? Even being on would drain the battery. What the fuck is this world and why does it like fucking with me? I spent some time staring at the battery to see if it would ever go down, but fifteen minutes passed and not a single digit moved.
I sighed, shaking my head at the absurdity of everything, and looked at my lock screen. It was a picture of Tom from Tom and Jerry on the beach staring down into the picnic basket with his eyes covered up as hard-boiled eggs and olives. I always liked the classic cartoons, and that episode of Tom and Jerry was probably the funniest thing to me as a kid.
I decided to play a few games on my iPod to pass the time, seeing as I was awake and that the hospital staff were no doubt going to be arriving soon. Lo and behold, thirty minutes passed by and I was in the middle of a starting a virus in Plague Inc. when I heard the door open.
I glanced up from the game to see that it was the same doctor as before, with a clipboard tucked under his arm and a mug of steaming coffee in his other hand. I popped the last of the bubbles that popped up and cut off the game, setting it on the nightstand nearby.
“Your hours must suck to be coming in at seven in the morning and leaving late into the night.” I commented, and got a snort from the doctor.
“You don’t know the beginning of it buster...” He grumbled softly.
I decided to let that lie and change the subject. “So, a couple’a questions if you don’t mind. Where’s my old clothes, and can I get some of that coffee?” I asked, and received a cruel chuckle from him as he set his cup of Joe on the counter, looking over the clipboard.
“Your old clothes were trashed from what I was told after they were left in tatters and covered in copious amounts of blood. Rarity said that she was going to be coming sometime today to bring you clothes.”
I frowned at that. I know the shirt was fucked up from the cuts and probably couldn’t have been recycled, but the jacket should’ve been fine after a wash and my pants could’ve just been sewn back up over the holes! I’d at least feel better if I wasn’t sitting here without even boxers… I rolled my eyes and looked at the doctor expectantly.
“And no, you’re not getting any of my coffee.” I groaned and went to go flop back onto the pillow I had, but I had forgotten that I was sitting up already and just smashed my head into the wall behind me.
I grimaced and rubbed the back of my head while the doctor stared at me sternly. “You know, beating yourself up won’t get you any closer to my coffee. It just means you’re making more work for me.” He stated, sounding disappointed and irritable.
“I forgot that I wasn’t just laying down. Been awake for an hour or so and would like to get some energy in my body.” I grumbled as I lowered my arms back to my side. “I get a bit grumpy if I didn’t get that boost in the morning, ya know?”
He chuckled as he took a sip from the mug, and I pouted slightly. “Aren’t we all?” He joked after finishing his sip, and I chuckled along with him.
“True that. The world runs on that stuff.” I murmured as he set the mug down.
“Everything should be ready for you to leave as soon as you want to. Just check with the mare at the front desk to fill out a few forms and you can be on your way.” I nodded my head, and heard the door open.
Another nurse, this one not the same as yesterday, poked her head in. “Is he ready and presentable?” The mare asked, and the doctor glanced at me.
“He’s ready. Presentable is stretching it since he’s still without clothing, but that should be remedied soon enough, I’m sure.”
I thought you were going to go somewhere else there at the beginning. Some banter would’ve been fun. I thought as the nurse left and, about a minute later, returned with the same group as before.
Pinkie pulled the same stunt as before, spearing me in the chest as she hugged me. I was starting to get irritated by her greeting because it was starting to get sore there every time her shoulder hits my chest.
“Hi Danny!” She shouted as the doctor glared at her.
Danny? The fuck? Do I look like a phantom?
“What did I say yesterday about injuring our patients, Ms. Pie?” He asked testily, but she just giggled in response.
He just looked at me in exasperation. “Just make sure they don’t do too much damage to you before the end of the week, alright? I’d hate to see you back here because one of them tackled you too hard.”
I grinned weakly at him and gave him a thumbs up. “No promises doc. I can’t stop a girl hellbent trying to spear me every time she sees me.” He just shook his head, still looking agitated by her situation.
“Pinkie, stop crushing the poor dear and give him some space!” Rarity said as she walked in. I recognized my jacket and pants folded up in the pile that she had brought, along with two other sets and an extra shirt.
“Are those for me? I hope it wasn’t too much out of pocket to get those made...” Now I felt like a shithead for not having the money to pay for the clothes.
“Oh nonsense dear, fixing up your previous attire was no trouble at all! Shame I couldn’t save the shirt, but it had become so torn up since you got here that I had no choice but to destroy it. The rest of the clothing was made from scraps that I had planned on reusing for some casual attire for my young sister, but she can just wait a few more weeks.” Rarity answered with an indifferent flip of her hair.
Not like I loved the shirt in the first place... I thought as she placed the clothes onto a nearby chair since my body was currently covered in pink. I gave her a small smile of gratitude as Rainbow walked into the room, a small swagger in her steps.
“Hey Daniel, ready to see the town?” She asked, and I bobbed my head back and forth a few times, thinking about what I was going to see in the town.
“Yeah, sounds great. Need to learn the layout of the town before I can do anything, right?” I commented as Twilight and Fluttershy walked in, the former handling two bags on either side of her that were stuffed with something I couldn’t exactly make out. I figured it was books or something. Fluttershy held a small rabbit in her hands. Its arms were crossed over its chest and it had an angry look on its face. A scowl appeared when it looked at me.
Oh you little bastard. I’m going to make sure a bear wipes his ass on you.
I ignored the mean looking rabbit for the moment to look at the two mares that had walked in. “How’s it going you two?” I gave a small wave to the both of them, Pinkie still attached to me like a damn leech and having pinned one of my arms to my body.
“Hi Daniel. How are you feeling today?” Twilight asked me, and I just shrugged.
“Been better, been worse. Can’t complain really.”
She pulled out a book from one of her bags and handed it to me, beaming brightly. I grabbed the book and looked at the mare curiously for a second, before I glanced at the title of the book.
“History of Equestria, huh? I figured I didn’t have to start school back over again when I woke up.” I said jokingly, and I got a chuckle from Rainbow.
“School is an amazing experience! How can you not like school?!” She asked, sounding insulted.
“School wasn’t good for me. I couldn’t make any friends because of my situation, and I got bullied because I ended up being a social outcast. Got beat up and jumped a couple of times by the other kids.” I would've went on, but I noticed that Twilight’s expression fell and she looked sorrowful for bringing it up, and I could tell that the room felt morose after that little tidbit of information.
I decided to change the subject, looking over at Fluttershy. “So who’s your little friend Fluttershy?” The bunny in question hopped out of her hands and landed on Pinkie’s back, who just giggled softly. It made its way up her back and I was stuck staring at half of him and half of Pinkie’s hair.
“T-that’s Angel Bunny...” She murmured.
I think that’s the first time I’ve heard her speak. Huh. I thought as I offered my hand to the little guy to smell.
“Hey there Angel.” He slapped away my hand, which didn’t really do anything besides him pushing my hand an inch or two away, as I stopped it in front of him and glared at me. He then climbed to the top of Pinkie’s head and he slapped me across the cheek. Didn’t do anything, but I knew that I wasn’t going to be liking this little prick. Should’ve been named Devil, because that’s what you are in disguise you little cunt.
“Well aren’t you just the cutest piece of hasenpfeffer I’ve seen in a while! Can’t wait to get to know you personally.” I flashed him a small smile and a wink and that made it seem like I had scared him. He jumped off of Pinkie’s head and cleared her body in two leaps, before he landed back into Fluttershy’s hands, before he started to make small squeaks and started thumping his legs on her hands before he glared up at Fluttershy, his arms crossed over his chest as he awaited her response.
“Angel Bunny, t-that’s not a very nice thing to say. You need to go apologize to Daniel.” She said firmly, but the bunny seemed to disagree, giving her a scowl as well and shaking its head vehemently. I could see her eyes get hard and she started to glare at the bunny.
“Oh Celestia, avert your eyes.” Rainbow mumbled into my ear as she looked away, turning around fully to avoid the glare, but I didn’t see what the big deal was. She was just glaring at the rabbit.
I would’ve done much worse to that furry little fuck if I wasn’t in the presence of all of these ponies.
I saw Angel shrink down and seemed to cower before the mare, but grew resolute and stood up defiant against her. Fluttershy, in turn, continued to glare at the rabbit, becoming more intense. The rabbit seemed to finally admit defeat with a squeak, and it hopped out of her hands, making its way up Pinkie’s body again, who just continued to giggle.
I shook my head at the absurdness of the situation as the rabbit settled on Pinkie’s back, before it offered its paw to me. I decided to take it in two fingers gingerly and shook it up and down once before pulling him a bit closer.
“Just a small glare from her and you get twisted up like that? Pretty damn weak, all things considered.” I whispered to him, and he seemed to become indignant and hopped away after I released him.
“So, Daniel, it’s important for you to know the basics of Equestria if you plan on staying here and becoming a citizen.” Twilight chimed in, and I looked at her with a deadpan expression.
“I know I’m gonna have to, but what do you consider ‘basics?’” I asked, quoting with my fingers.
“It’ll be easy! It’s only the full history of Equestria, the local economy, social and cultural differences and nuances of Equestria, holidays, and a basic understanding of magic!”
I could feel my face fall with each different topic that she brought forth, especially at the end with the social and cultural side of Equestria, and understanding magic part. I’m pretty sure I look like a prisoner about to go to death row at this point, but decided to lighten the mood up as I could see that Twilight was becoming nervous by my downtrodden look.
“I guess I’ll see everyone in twelve years while Twilight drills this info into me.” I joked, and earned a good-natured chuckle from everyone else in the room and a pout and blush from Twilight as she started to stammer out a response.
“Alright everypony, let him get dressed so that he can get out of here sooner.” The doctor interjected, waving his hands towards the door, and everyone left without much complaint. Pinkie just complained that she was comfortable and enjoying the rhythm of my heartbeat, which is really weird, but I suppose that it’s just normal for her since everyone else just rolled their eyes at her antics. The doctor was the last to leave, and turned to look at me with a nod before he exited the room.
I let the door click before I jumped out of my bed and started to sort through the pile of clothes. “Goddamn, this stuff is soft...” I murmured to myself as I ran a hand down the fabric of the shirts and pants that were made by Rarity.
I pulled on a pair of gray boxers that she seemed to have made as a replica of my original underwear. Everything here was a little fancy for something that a normal person would consider casualwear, but I’ve had it drilled into me that I need to look my best at all times, especially when repping the family.
The pants were the same shade of black as my jacket, fitting snug and comfortable, but breathed in all of the right places so that I didn’t feel like I couldn’t move around in them. I used one of the white shirts as an undershirt for my jacket, which was a black suit jacket that I had grabbed before I had left the house. The socks matched the rest of the attire, and it looked like they had managed to keep my shoes.
They were originally black dress shoes that were shined, but they had become dirty and scratched up in my chase through the forest. Somehow, they had managed to get all of the scratches out of the shoes and clean off the dirt, making them look as new as the day they were bought. A tie had been set on top of the pile, a nice burgundy red to add a little flair to the suit itself.
Is this a fedora? It’s nice… I asked myself as I picked up the piece that had caught my eye originally. It was a fedora, with a creased crown and side dents in it. The front of the brim of the hat was curled downwards while the back of the brim was curled upwards, while a ribbon wrapped around the base of the hat itself. The material of it was soft, but I couldn’t tell what it was by just glancing at it.
I adjusted my tie, donned the fedora, and saw a pair of blue lensed sunglasses sitting on the nightstand next to my iPod.
I don’t remember those being there. Huh.
I picked them up and put them on, smiling as I looked over myself in a mirror. I did a small spin and turned my head every which way I could to get a good look at myself, smirking.
I always felt like it was nice, dressing up even when I didn’t want to. It gave me an appreciation for my looks and made me comfortable with wearing something formal rather than going about with only jeans and a t-shirt, which I only did on lazy days or when I was having to do some labor around the yard, like pulling weeds from the garden or cutting grass.
I decided that I had spent enough time staring at myself in the mirror, grabbed the rest of my stuff from the nightstand, and folded the clothes again before wrapping it around my arm. I turned to the door and started walking, and the door was opening.
“Daniel, are you okay? You’re taking a while to get dressed.” I heard the doctor say, and I rolled my eyes as I pulled the sunglasses off and stuck them into the collar of my shirt, letting them hang there as I walked out.
“I was just making sure that I was presentable and that I had all of my stuff before I walked out. Didn’t want for you to have to come chase me down to give me my wallet or something.” I stated as I pulled the door open and felt all eyes drop onto me. I realized quickly how much taller I was than the rest of them since I towered over the mares by almost a foot and the stallion by a good six inches.
I got a few dropped jaws, a whistle from Pinkie, a snicker from Rainbow, and a smirk from the doctor. Rarity was beaming at me as I came out, giving me a one over.
“Oh darling, you look smashing!” I gave her an appreciative smile.
Pinkie gave a giggle. “You’re looking good Danny! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were about to go on a date with a nice mare!” Pinkie exclaimed, and that got Rainbow to crack up even more and Twilight and Fluttershy blushed furiously as they picked their jaws off of the ground, while Rarity seemed to flush a little at the thought. The doctor was just standing there with his smirk, shaking his head slowly.
“While I appreciate the look, why were you wearing a suit when you were in that dreadful forest?” Rarity asked, and the smile I had fell slightly, one that went noticed by all of the ponies in the conversation.
“It’s something that I’ve always been doing. When I was young, I was forced to wear it when I went out somewhere and even when I went to school. As I got older, I was allowed a little leeway with my outfits, but I continued to wear suits more often than not. The sunglasses are for my eyes, since people get nervous around people with odd eye colors.”
I don’t even want to bring up religion. Don’t know how many Bible thumping nutjobs said that I was possessed by a demon before they started slinging holy water in my direction... If they don’t have it here, it can stay back on Earth for all I fucking care.
“I didn’t have this fedora though, but it’s definitely a well made piece. Same with the suit. So, yeah, thanks Rarity. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
She just shook her head, giving a wide, beaming smile. “Oh, pish posh darling, it’s nothing I wouldn’t do for anypony else if they were down on their luck! Also, I brought along this bag so that you don’t have to carry your extras on your arm like that. I would hate for them to get dirty as we go around Ponyville!”
She handed me a cotton bag with handles sewn onto them and I put the clothes in there. “Thank you for everything. All of you, for helping me out here.” I mumbled, feeling well and truly embarrassed about all of the help that I had been getting, and got smiles and positive responses out of each of the mares in turn. It helped put my mind at ease now that I now I’m walking out into a brand new world.
“So, are you ready to see the town Daniel?” Twilight asked, sounding excited after she had calmed down from her embarrassment of seeing me and probably finding me attractive.
Yeah, I know I look good, no reason to hide it or be ashamed about it. Even if it makes me sound a bit narcissistic, having a little confidence in how you look goes a long way for yourself in life.
“Sounds like a plan. I just gotta fill out a few papers at the front and I’ll be on my way.”
With that, we started for the front desk. The doctor explained why I was filling out papers, which is just that they were keeping records of what had happened in case anyone that has the authority to ask can see, and to set up a certificate so that I wasn’t just waltzing around without any form of identification.
When he mentioned identification, I pulled out my driver’s license and my school ID card, which gave basic information about myself and had a picture so that I could be identified, but he just shook his head and said that I would need something akin to a birth certificate to be able to be officiated as a citizen in the future.
With that out of the way, I filled out the paperwork and was out of the door before long. “So, where’s Applejack at? She busy with work or something?” I asked Twilight as I stepped out of the building for the first time and hopefully the last time, and I donned my new sunglasses.
Twilight nodded her head as she brought a hand up to cover her eyes to protect it from the sudden glare of the sun. “She’s a co-owner of Sweet Apple Acres and there was an accident,” she glared at Rainbow Dash, who just chuckled awkwardly as she looked towards the ground, “that had transpired before you had arrived here. So she and her brother are fixing up their barn before harvesting season starts.”
I nodded my head in understanding. It was nice of her to take some time to come visit me if she’s preparing for harvest and she has to fix something big. I thought, turning my attention to the bustling town of Ponyville.
I looked around slowly, taking in all of the sights of the in front of him. It was the same city he saw from my window, but there was something about the smell of baked goods and the earthy tones of flowers on the wind that made me appreciate the rustic vibe the town had. The road was cobbled stone, and the town was in full swing, with all kinds of ponies of all colors of the rainbow walking or flying to their destinations.
Some of the ponies were sitting at cafes, chatting with friends and family with smiles on their faces. Some ponies were pulling carts that were loaded with goods, anything from fruits and vegetables to trade goods like cloth, what looked like rocks but were probably ores to melt down into their respective metals, and wood. I could see a few smaller ponies running around in yards or grassy fields with one another, doing who knows what kids do on this world.
We spent about three hours wandering the town, with each pony naming off different locations or shops and what they contained inside. I noticed a lot of places were hay-based, especially around food, and towards the start of the third hour, food became a frequent topic that was brought up.
Soon enough, Rainbow Dash’s stomach grumbled loudly, and she smiled sheepishly as she looked at everyone else. “I guess it’s about time for lunch?” The rest of the mares were giving affirmations to being hungry as well, but I had been lost in thought at the time about that voice that I heard early in the morning, as well as the stuff that was appearing out of nowhere, and afterthoughts of what I’ve been pondering the last day or so.
A part of me still believes that this is a dream, but I’m mostly under the impression that the dream has gone on long enough, and that everything here is real. Still, there’s that very small portion of me that still believes this is a dream, and that everything will be swept from under me in a matter of minutes.
Rarity told me after the first hour that she didn’t know where the fedora came from, but that it had appeared alongside the tie on top of the clothes that she spent the entire day working on previously. After being thoroughly questioned if she knew who did it, and how it appeared there, they came to the conclusion that it was simply a memory lapse on Rarity’s part, though that didn’t sound right to me. She seemed-
“Daniel?” Twilight’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I looked down at her. She looked concerned.
“Yes Twilight? Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff.” I reassured her, slapping myself mentally, and she seemed to accept that as she gave a small smile.
“Would you like to go to the cafe with us?” She blushed slightly as a pair of mares that had been walking by grinned and started to giggle to themselves. “Y-you don’t have to, of course! B-but we-”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her anxious tirade. “It’s fine Twilight. Sure, I’m feeling a bit hungry. Whatever’s best with you girls is fine by me.” I responded.
She seemed to accept that and the mares started walking off, talking among themselves.
I trailed behind them slightly as I became lost in thought once again. What the hell was that voice in the hospital room? Was the hospital haunted? Or was it something else? There was no one there, but the voice still called out to me. I paused for a second as something popped into my head. Has a being of evil noticed me being brought here from somewhere not of this world and is trying to contact me? Am I going insane because I’ve started accepting this as my new reality? Am I truly here, or is this just a hallucination while I’m still comatose? Am I even alive right now? That thought right there made my head spin a little, and I stopped for a moment and brought a hand up to my head.
Maybe this is a joke that I’ve been getting hit with by the denizens of hell, leading me to a false sense of security before they torture me for the rest of time? What if I’m dead and these… memories? Or maybe visions… These visions are fake, and I’m sitting in purgatory, waiting for my chance to be called so that I could be judged? The Bibble and Jerry was never really specific about how it worked in Purgatory. Not from what I remember at least.
I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see that Twilight had dropped back from the rest of the group and was walking alongside me.
“Hey Twilight, I didn’t see you there...” I said weakly, giving an unconvincing smile as she continued to look at him in concern.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been quiet for the majority of the trip. Unless we started talking directly to you, you’d be silent or you’d give small answers to questions. What’s on your mind?” She inquired, leaning against him a bit.
“What do you mean? I’m just… normally this quiet.” I lied through my teeth, but she gave me a glare that said she knew better. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know she had seen my memories.
“I know as much as you do about yourself, seeing as I’ve seen into that head of yours Daniel. You’ve always tried to be outgoing and friendly but you’ve been put into a bad situation from the start...” She murmured, and I looked at her in surprise.
How the fuck did she see into my head? Wait, I’m sure the answer’s probably magic. I thought, growing a bit spiteful about magic having the answer to everything.
“I noticed you didn’t really give any clear answers about certain things as well.” She dug deeper into me, looking at me sternly, almost like a mother would a misbehaving child. I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly.
“Like what?”
She pursed her lips. “Like about your life in general. Or the things you did back home. Or...” She blushed slightly, turning away. “Past crushes and your love life up to this point...” She mumbled.
I could feel my face heating up slightly as I remembered them trying to grill me for that sort of info and I just kept pushing it off since I didn’t want to remember. Love life? More like lack thereof. Haven't had a girlfriend yet, and I've never even kissed a girl because I was getting my shit pushed in. “Well, there’s really not much about me that’s worth mentioning. Besides the fact that I was hounded by the mafia for pretty much my entire life, I spent most of my time outside of school playing video games or practicing... other things.”
I frowned slightly as I went into the next topic. “You said it yourself, you pretty much know everything about me. I didn’t have much in terms of a love life, and the few crushes I did have were either too far out of my league or moved away before I could muster up the courage to say anything to them.” I chewed on my lip, feeling indignant about having to speak about something she knew about out loud.
“Look, I understand that it’s hard to get past what happened, but you shouldn’t bottle yourself up… It’s not healthy. It’ll just lead to pain for everypony down the road.”
I looked back at her and sighed softly. “Fine... So, I was thinking about something that actually happened this morning. I swear I heard someone calling out me, telling me to wake up, but when I woke up, I didn’t see anyone else in the room and it was long before anyone else showed up.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either.
“Daniel, I feel like there’s more to it than just that.” Twilight murmured, giving me another stern look.
I couldn’t help but feel exasperated, and it came out in my voice even as I tried to hide it. “Alright, you wanna know what’s on my mind? I feel like I’m in the middle of a fucking existential crisis right now. How do I know that all of this,” I looked around the town, my gaze finding its way back to the mare,” is even real? How do I know that I’m not dead, and this is just some joke played on me by some demon from Hell? How do I know I’m not actually in a coma and all of this is actually a hallucination made up in my head?!”
My voice was starting to rise slightly, and I could see a few ponies turning to look at me, so I drew back so that I wouldn’t draw attention to what we were saying and looked up at the blue skies above, as if they were going to give me an answer.
“I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not anymore… Everything that I once knew about the world has been turned on its head, and I can’t help but feel like this might just be something that I’m not aware of.” I lifted my sunglasses to rub at my eyes in irritation, before looking back down at her. She had been gawking for some time before her expression changed to a shocked and disbelieving expression, which was starting to become destitute before long, before she seemed to resolve whatever she was thinking of in her head and looked determined as I stared back at her.
“Daniel, I have no idea how you feel. I’ve never found myself in a situation like this before. The closest that I’ve ever gotten was when I first found myself here in Ponyville. I came from Canterlot,” I snorted at the name and she glared at me.
“Sorry, that’s just… very similar to a city back from where I’m from. Please continue.” I responded to her mean look and she sighed softly.
“I came from Canterlot,” she waited for me to interrupt, but I held my tongue even when it was still funny to hear the horse pun in the name, “and had been socially awkward for most of my life. I’m the personal student of Princess Celestia, so when she sent me here to manage a celebration that was going to happen, I found myself in a new place, surrounded by strangers, with only Spike beside me. But looking back, I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything in the world.”
She became silent for a moment, smiling softly to herself before she snapped back to reality. “I can tell you that you’re not d-dead...” She grew tight lipped at that, but continued on with a determined look. “You’re not in a coma on Earth. You’re here with us on Equestria. You don’t have to worry about those people from Earth anymore. From this day forward, everything will be fine. Maybe, in time, you’ll find somepony here to love and live your life with.”
I felt myself snap to her automatically at those final words, and I winced deeply when I remembered what happened the one time that I had actually shown interest in a girl to someone from the mafia. She never spoke to me after that, nor should she have after what had happened.
“Twilight, I couldn’t do that to anyone here. Me falling for someone has cost someone that I had fallen for back then something that can’t be given back." In more ways than one... I added silently before continuing. "Just thinking about the idea of someone here going through that just...” I let out a growl as I balled up my fists, keeping them by my side as I shook my head. “Best thing for me should’ve been that bullet in the chest. Everyone here would be better off if I was just rotting in that damn forest.”
Twilight was stunned by the sudden change in my tone. She was staring at me in absolute shock, like I had just told her that her favorite pet had died.
“Daniel, please… There’s always a possibility that you’ll find love somewhere. Those stallions can’t get to you here, and you’ve only grown to fear those stallions because they were always watching over you, ready to hurt you for anything that they saw as a glimmer of hope for you. Equestria has been in peace for over a thousand years, and most likely will be for another thousand! It’d be the perfect chance for you to find a special somepony, maybe get married and have a few foals...”
She seemed to trail off slightly, and I looked over at her as she seemed to get lost in La-La land. She had a dopey expression on her face, and I couldn’t help but shake my head in amusement at her, despite the dark and morbid conversation we were having in the middle of heading to some cafe.
Despite what she kept saying and trying to reassure me about, I couldn’t help but feel anger and shame for what happened, and I’ll never forgive myself for letting myself appear weak to those fucking bastards for as long as I live.
Twilight seemed to be ready to continue, and was opening her mouth when Rarity interrupted her. “We’re here~!”
She gave me one last glance, and offered a small smile. “Try not to let your past dictate who you are in the future Daniel. Those mean stallions can’t get here, so you shouldn’t have to worry about them ever again.” With that, she started walking towards the cafe, the small smile remaining on her face as she joined her friends.
I felt callous for dismissing her words so vehemently, but I wasn’t in the right mind at the time.
I was angry, I was depressed, and most of all, I was scared. But it had slowly dawned on me that she was right, and it pained me to admit that I was letting myself get beat up by the idea that there was someone back on Earth, looking for me. But this is a new place, a new planet, and even if things are a bit weird right now, this place sure as hell has been much better to me than Earth was for me.
I shouldn’t be living my life in fear of what other people would do to me, especially since they can’t touch me now. Fuck them, they’ll get what’s coming to them before long, and I’ll only hate to miss the moments when they get locked up for good or to watch the news as their bodies are uncovered in a homicide.
“D-Daniel?” Fluttershy’s voice cut through his musings as she looked up at me nervously. “A-are you going to eat…?” She hid behind her hair as I looked down at her, and I gave her a forced smile.
“Yeah, was just thinking about something unimportant.” I responded to her, following her to the table that the other mares had gotten while I had been standing there. I was handed a menu, and I took a few minutes to look over what the options were. Most of them were normal, like sandwiches that were packed with mostly vegetables.
I decided to play it safe, getting some water and a BLT, which was sadly not a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Instead, it was broccoli, which I wasn’t expecting, but I didn't complain.
I bit into one of the hay fries and it tasted really weird to me. It was like what I’d thought a french fry would taste like if I decided to dip it into a pot of old grease that was mixed with horseradish and onions.
I chewed it with a weird look on my face, which drew the attention of Rainbow Dash, who was eating a salad with fruit in it, which I thought was fucking weird but that was just me, and she started to cough up the food she had been chewing on as she laughed at me.
Rarity admonished her for her poor table-side manner, and turned to look at me to apologize on Rainbow’s behalf when she paused to look at my face, before she raised her hand up to her mouth to cover the smile she had gotten when she was looking at my expression.
Soon enough, I had everyone either giggling or laughing at me as I swallowed the fry, and decided to hand over my fries to Twilight, who completely ravished them in the meantime.
Rainbow seemed a little surprised and perhaps a bit insulted that I had given up my fries like that. “What the hay Daniel! These fries are the best on this side of Equestria!”
I finished off what was left of my sandwich to wash the taste of the fry out of my mouth. “Those fries tasted… off to me. I don’t know what they were, but they didn’t taste right.”
How the fuck do they make fries here, if they come out tasting like they were cooked in the crack of a dead man? Twilight gave me a look as she had been stuffing her face with the fries, and swallowed the handful she had.
“They taste great to me!” She grabbed another handful and stuffed them into her awaiting maw. I rolled my eyes at her eating habits.
“Remind me to get some potatoes and I’ll make some fries from my world. Show you how we do things over there.”
My Dad was weird about his fries. If he didn’t get the potatoes and peel them and blanched them himself, he didn’t like the fries because he claimed they tasted off or didn’t taste good. Didn’t matter if they used the same oil as us to fry them in, or if they baked them in an oven at the same temperature for the same exact time. He taught me how to make fresh fries from scratch, and while I disliked it at first how much time it took for me to have to spend to make them, I’m glad that I did end up learning because I would need that skill in the coming days. I’ll be using that method he taught me over here to make some decent fries.
“I bet they won’t size up to these fries at all.” Rainbow boasted, giving a smug look on her face before she stuffed a handful of them into her face.
You’ll be eating those words. Then probably eating all of the damn fries because I can make a mean set of fries. I thought, but rolled my eyes as I finished off the last of my water.
Everyone chipped in for the meal, but when I pulled out my wallet and fished out a couple of dollars, the waiter got a weird look on his face and said that he didn’t accept whatever my currency was. Twilight ended up having to pay for my meal and that pissed me off, since I still had all of that cash on me and it didn’t mean jack shit if nobody wants it. We had started walking off from the cafe and I was still miffed about the waiter not taking my cash.
“Can’t believe my money isn’t good here...” I grumbled under my breath as all of us were walking down the street.
“He just didn’t realize the intrinsic value of a currency from beyond our world. I’m sure Princess Celestia would be interested in saving what you have in a museum!” Twilight exclaimed, seemingly nonplussed.
I grimaced slightly in anger. “I just don’t like the fact that you had to pay for my shit because my cash wasn’t a solid gold coin.” I pulled the fedora off of my head and ran a hand through my hair, airing it out slightly to try and keep myself from getting hot-headed, or at least more so than what I had become.
“While this has definitely been a fun experience, I must go back to the Carousel to finish my latest orders! Ta-ta for now!” Rarity split off from the group, waving a hand behind her as she disappeared into the herd of ponies that were walking to and fro.
“I have work early in the morning, so I’ll see y’all later!” Rainbow shouted as she spread her wings and took off, dashing away in a rainbow streak.
I swear if she isn’t lesbian, I’ll be surprised. I thought as I watched her disappear.
“I have to finish up work as well! Bye Danny!” Pinkie bounced off into the crowd.
“This has definitely been an eventful day for me, but I’ve gotta catch up on my studies. I’ll see you two later.” Twilight started walking off, but I cut in before she made it too far.
“Wait, what? Where am I going to be staying?” I asked in confusion, turning towards Fluttershy and Twilight.
“We had already discussed this the night before. I don’t have any room in the library for a guest, and the Cakes are cramped already in Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie staying there. Rarity doesn’t have any room, and Applejack’s farm is full of equipment from her extended family at the moment. Fluttershy’s the only one with a spare bedroom at the moment, and Rainbow Dash lives in the clouds and you can’t walk on clouds since you’re not a pegasus.” Twilight answered, giving me a sheepish grin.
I turned to look at Fluttershy, and she shrunk down slightly. “I-I’m sorry if that’s not good enough D-Daniel...” She mumbled, but I waved it off.
“It’s fine, I just thought for a moment that I was going to be left to fend for myself. That would’ve been...” a shitshow. “Bad. I didn’t really go camping back home...” I rubbed my forehead as I thought about how well I would’ve done trying to live out in the woods when I could barely function by myself in the first place.
I started following Fluttershy as she led me towards her cottage, which was on the outside of town. “I live with a lot of animals in my house. I-I hope you don’t mind...” She mumbled suddenly as we were walking down the trail she turned down.
I shook my head in response. “That’s fine with me.” I responded awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head.
“I-I didn’t mean to-” I cut her off before she started apologizing about something else.
“It’s not your fault Fluttershy. I’m just a bit tired right now. I’ve had a lot on my mind since I woke up.”
She simply nodded her head and continued walking down the trail that made its way over a small hill. We crested the hill and noticed immediately all of the animals in the vicinity. All shapes and sizes found themselves nestled in the shade of the trees nearby, or in the shadow of the cottage as the sun shone down. A few of them perked up as we came over the hill, but settled down once we started making our way down the hill, crossing the small bridge.
“I need to feed my little woodland creatures. Do you mind if you help me Daniel? Y-you don’t have to, it’s perfectly fine, I-I just-” I shook my head and placed a hand on her shoulder, and she squeaked and stopped talking before she looked up at me.
“It’s the least I could do since you’re letting me stay here Fluttershy. Just tell me where to get started and what to do and I’ll get it done.” I could see a small smile creep out from behind her hair, but it was gone as quick as it came.
We came around the side of the house and I saw a small shed sitting close by. She walked inside and I followed, and for a second, I had a flash of… something. I’m not sure what it was, but when I stepped through the precipice of that door, all I could see were of the walls being covered in blood gore, with different ponies and skeletons of woodland critters strung up or nailed to the walls, buckets of blood sitting next to the tables, a bunch of brains sitting off in one corner, and much more ghastly sights that shocked and appalled me.
However, I blinked in the second it took for me to take in all of the details of what was going on in the shed, and all I saw was large bags of different types of feed for different types of animals, and a bit of sawdust on the ground. I removed the sunglasses that I had been wearing and looked around again, and seeing everything was normal, I ground the palms of my hands into my eyes.
What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m hearing voices, stuff’s appearing out of nowhere, and now I’m seeing flashes of crazy shit about some shy girl that lives on the edge of town…
She grabbed one bag with a grunt and started hauling it out of the shed with a bit of a wobble in her step. I had donned my sunglasses again and saw that she was having a bit of trouble with the bag and I decided to help. I took it from her arms as she came towards me and she squeaked softly.
“U-um, Daniel…? W-why did you-” I shifted the bag over into one arm, setting my bag of clothes down onto the floor.
“I figured that I could carry this stuff around for you while you feed your pets. I couldn’t help but notice that you were struggling a bit to pick it up.” I answered, and I could see her cheeks grow rosy.
“D-do you mind if you carried two at once? W-we could get done in half the time...”
I nodded my head in response. “Sure thing. Just point out which one you want me to carry.” She pointed to a slightly smaller bag and I bent down, wrapping my arm around the bag to pick it up, before I tossed it up slightly to get it to rest against my arm to be in a more comfortable carrying position.
She started leading me around the yard as animals seemed to line up, and she dug into the bags, pulling out handfuls of pellets, bending down to hand one or two to an animal before she’d encourage them to eat it or murmur some words to the animals. It took us about twenty minutes and three trips back and forth from the shed to grab different bags of feed for different animals.
My arms were a bit sore after the entire ordeal, but I dealt with it in silence as she took some time to pet the last creature she had fed and stood up.
“That’s all of them. Y-you can go put the bags back into my shed, i-if you want to...” I just responded with a nod.
“I thought there were a lot more than there actually were.” I commented as I started carrying the bags back to the shed. I didn’t get a response from her, and for some reason I was expecting one since I had taken a slower pace to see if she would say something. I simply shrugged it off as her being shy and decided to finish the task at hand.
The inside of the shed looked the same as it always had, besides the first second that I had stepped into it, and Fluttershy followed me in. “Usually it takes me an hour or two to feed them all, but with you carrying all of the bags for me, it was a lot easier to do...”
I think that’s the first time I didn’t hear her stutter. I thought offhandedly, ignoring the fact that she had been silent the entire time that she had followed me through, as I set the bags down where they were sitting and went to go pick my spare clothes up.
“So, how often do you feed them, since I’m going to be staying here and helping out?” I asked, knowing that I’m not going to just be sitting on my ass while she does everything.
Even if she said I didn’t have to help out, I’m not a prick that just mooches off of other people without compensation.We started walking towards the front door of her cottage, and she stopped on her porch to think about it for a few moments.
“I-I feed them once when I wake up and once before the end of the day… If they’re still h-hungry between those times, they usually go hunt or forage for something to eat…”
She opened the door and walked inside, and I followed after a few seconds. I noticed immediately that there were birdhouses, cages, and animal beds covering just about everything in the house. A large brown rug sat in the middle of the room, and was covered with different animal hairs. A fireplace sat against one wall to the right, which was surrounded by a few chairs and a sofa and a table. A bookshelf several books sat across the room.
A few pictures sat upon the mantle of the fireplace of different things, like one of Angel, one of Fluttershy with her friends, and one of I’m guessing her parents and a younger Fluttershy. I noticed that her kitchen was a bit dirty with a few stains here and there on the countertops and the floor, but I didn’t blame her since she’s got a lot of stuff she probably has to do in order to keep up with the amount of animals here.
I mean, there’s easily a hundred that I had counted.
There was another door that led somewhere else, I’m assuming a basement, and a stairway right above it that led upstairs. Fluttershy was already on her way upstairs when I walked in, and I figured she was getting her guest room ready for me. I went over to the bookshelf and picked out a book at random, and sat down on the couch.
I had removed my sunglasses and had them nestled in the crack of my shirt, flipped through the first few pages of the story, which apparently was a cheesy romance novel, when I heard a crash from upstairs. I set the book down on the table and started towards the stairs, cautious for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
Did she knock something over and cause it to break? I asked myself as I made my way up. I heard a bit of noise coming from behind one of the doors and realized it was running water after listening for a few seconds. I went to go knock on the door to ask if she was okay inside, but realized that she probably just dropped a bottle of shampoo or something, and that she’d be embarrassed if I interrupted her shower.
I decided to head back downstairs and sit back down on the couch. A brief image of Fluttershy stripping off her clothes popped into my head, but I dismissed the image immediately, my face flushing in embarrassment and shame. I imagined another one of her completely nude, and felt some blood rushing downstairs.
I punched the inside of my thigh to focus on the pain and to draw my attention away from what I was thinking, and to stop myself from embarrassing the both of us. The last thing I need is for this poor girl to think I’m some sort of perv if I’m sitting on her couch, thinking about her naked in the shower... After a few minutes of more water, it turned off, and I had been in the midst of reading the book I had plucked off of the shelf when I heard Fluttershy descending the stairs, with only a towel wrapped around herself for modesty. I froze like a deer in headlights, before looking away and covering my face with my hands, and I could hear her stop on the stairs with a horrified squeak.
“D-D-Daniel?! I-I thought y-you w-went to bed!” Fluttershy squeaked out. I stared down at the page of the book to stop myself from looking in her direction.
“Y-you… uh, didn’t show me the guest room. I-I thought y-you were getting it prepared or something… I didn’t know you were taking a shower until I-I heard the water running...” I mumbled, closing the book and hiding my face in my fedora.
“O-oh, I-I’m so sorry! I f-forgot to show you to where you w-were going to be staying and y-you’ve been waiting on me all this time!” I heard her step over quickly and I felt her grab my wrist, ushering me off of the couch.
Alright, time to grow the fuck up! No staring, no extended looking, no excuses for even a long glance! I told myself as I pulled the fedora off of my face so I wasn’t being led blindly, though I could feel my face become even more heated as the first thing that I was met with was the lip of her towel swaying in front of me as she started up the stairs, and I practically glued my face to the wall to avoid seeing anything she wouldn’t want me to see.
I didn’t see anything, you can’t tell me I saw anything, I saw NOTHING. I thought, doing my best to not envision the way her towel billowed against her thighs and teased her most sacred parts-
I shook my head fiercely, drawing my attention to the wall once again as heat exploded across my face. I felt her release my hand as I reached the top of the stairs and turned to glance at her, and saw that she was blushing as well. I walked past the first door, which was the bathroom that Fluttershy had occupied previously. The next one I assumed was the master bedroom, as she walked right past it and into the next door before she slowly opened the door.
The bedroom was not much larger than the one he had back home. It had a small bed that was tucked away in the corner with a nightstand next to it with a lamp that sat on top of it, two windows against the adjacent wall to the door and the adjacent wall to the bed. Against the wall near to the second window was a wooden desk and a simple chair tucked into it. On the wall closest to the door was a small folding door that I assumed was the closet where I’d keep my clothes.
I turned to look at the mare and smiled softly. “It’s great, t-thanks Fluttershy.” I stepped into the room and set the bag that I had been toting along all day on the bed, yawning softly. I looked out the window and noticed that it was still well into the afternoon.
Can’t go to sleep now, otherwise I’d wake up at midnight… I thought. I opened the door to the closet and noticed that there was a small stand in dresser in there as well where I could put more clothes. I hung up the two spare outfits that I had and put whatever socks and underwear into the dresser. I placed my sunglasses and fedora on top of the dresser before I added my wallet and headphones to it as well before I tossed my iPod onto the bed. I kicked off my shoes and lay down on the bed, looking at my phone briefly before I decided to play some music. I made sure to tone down the sound before I started playing some Camille Saint-Saëns.
For music, I’m not picky. I tended to stick to rock and roll, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic styles of classic music, some swing and jazz from the ‘20s and ‘30s. From time to time, I’ll find something that I'd enjoy enough to add to my collection. Some of it was from the metal genres like Paranoid, Iron Man, and War Pigs by Black Sabbath, Jump and Runnin’ with the Devil by Van Halen, mixed in with Ace of Spades by Motörhead, Fear of the Dark and Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden, Breaking the Law and Painkiller by Judas Priest. I could write a full list of songs that I have on this thing, but it's over six hundred, and all of them are all over the place honestly. Some of them are for dancing, which I do tend to do in my spare time when nobody is around because I like the feeling of moving, and some of them are there to provoke... thoughts.
I started off with Aquarium, listening to the slow melodic tempo of the song that seemed to drive me into a calm as if I was standing on the edge of a lake, the water clean and clear, with fish that swam to and fro in front of me, occasionally darting away for a piece of food before they slowly swim back towards the rest of the school.
It was followed directly by Danse Macabre, how it starts off with its quiet and slow tempo before it starts to grow louder and more intense before washing away like a wave on a beach, before the tempo starts to pick up once again before it climaxes into a strong dynamic of the full orchestra playing until the very end, when it descends down into a single violin sadly playing until the coda stops the piece.
I decided on a sadder tune for some reason, and decided to listen to The Swan from the Carnival of the Animals. The slow cello melody and solo piano was meant to represent the elegance of a swan gliding over the water, however the piece has always seemed sad to me, as if Saint-Saëns was going through harsh times when he wrote this piece, and that was how I had interpreted it for years when I first heard it. Despite knowing better, it still sounds sad and brings a solemn shroud of my heart as I listen to I until it ends with the final keys from the piano softly playing.
I heard the door softly slide open and I cracked an eye open to look towards the door to see Fluttershy standing there, eyes puffy and red. He sat up and looked over her. She had gotten dressed in the time, and looked like she had been crying.
“H-hey Fluttershy, are you okay? I… didn’t say anything too harsh today, have I?” I asked, silently cursing myself already for the mistreatment of my host. She shook her head at me and pushed the door open slowly.
“I-I was in my room when I heard the music coming from in h-here… I-I was going to come in earlier, but that l-last song sounded so… depressing t-that I couldn’t help myself...” She sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes, giving me a sad smile.
I couldn’t help but return it. “So, uh, that song wasn’t actually supposed to be sad… I thought the same thing when I first heard it, but it turns out that it was supposed to signify the elegance a swan has when it glides across the water of a lake. The original composer of the piece had created an entire set for all sorts of things, but this is arguably one of his best pieces individually...”
Her smile returned as she twirled a bit of her hair between her fingers as she closed the door behind her. “D-do you mind if we listen to some more of y-your music?”
I nodded my head, pushing myself up until I was against the wall, and Fluttershy climbed onto the bed, sitting much like I had done. “I’ll try to stick to some of the more upbeat songs on this thing.”
I mumbled awkwardly before I started with Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers, followed by Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Strauss II’s Voices of Spring, Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
By the end of it, the sun was dipping below the horizon and I had nearly fallen asleep with Fluttershy leaning against me, snoring adorably. I stopped the music, which was past the first minute of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and glanced out of the corner of my eye at Fluttershy.
She was resting her head on my shoulders, so I had to carefully make sure she didn’t wake up when I got out from under her. I slowly pulled her down to the bed and then made sure the blanket covered her before I decided to go sleep on the couch in the living room.
No reason to make the morning awkward by sleeping next to her, and I didn’t want to sleep in the chair because, one, it didn’t have arms on it, two, it didn’t look comfortable, and three, I’m pretty sure it’s still creepy if I decide to sleep in the same room as someone you just met just yesterday, even if they were your new roommate/provider/landlord/host. So I went to the living room and removed the jacket of my suit before I plopped down on the couch and fell asleep.