No, I was not teleported to Equestria by Luna, Celestia, or Twilight. Or any other pony, or other creature, for that matter. I was here all along. I was born here. Actually, I was hatched, but that's a whole thing to get into. Anyway, I've lived in Equestria for twenty-six years, and for twenty-four of those years nopony knew I existed. You see, I knew I was different, I knew that the ponies I saw all around, talking, eating, and just going about their business, were not the same as I.
I didn't live in a forest or anything, I just kept to the poorer cities and towns, preferably in allies where I could hide from prying eyes. It worked quite well, nopony other than one or two less than lucid stallions noticed me. I lived off spare change and old food, not the greatest life, I know, but when you're the only being of your species left, you can't complain about much.
So, why on earth, or, why in Equestria, did I come out off 'hiding'? Cause I wanted adventure, I wanted to have friends and money and be able to settle down somewhere. I wanted other humans to come to Equestria, and ponies to move to earth. I wanted all that, until I learned the truth about these ponies. Not anything bad, mind you, just a little strange.
It all started one frosty winter morning, two and a half years ago...
I was young man, still am, but I was more naive then. I lived in Manhatten, it's lesser half, the downtown area, was a great place to stay, poor, but not too poor. Just enough to keep ponies from giving me a second glance from under my blanket, but wealthy enough for them to spare a few bits. Buying food was hard, but there were enough homeless ponies who were willing to help me out, for a small fee, of course.
The morning was cold, the early winds were picking up, although it wasn't late enough to snow, it was cold enough to. I sat, like any other morning, under the blanket and a few pieces of cardboard. The morning crowd was the best for sparing money, still chipper from a lack of interaction that day. Mondays were always the best for begging.
I never once felt like exposing myself to the public, my life was good enough, I had grown up like this, and I didn't want things to get worse. If I could take it all back, lose all the knowledge I have now, all the experiences, I would. Even my relationships weren't worth it. I just wish I could go back.
So I sat there, waiting for somepony to toss a bit or two into my cup. The morning tore into the afternoon, and that into evening, still, no donations. It was unusual to not get any bits, I guessed that there was foul news and everpony was bitter from it. Most news only came to me once it was old, if ever.
I laid down, defeated. I had no money for dinner, there were never any reserve bits. I knew that I could last at least seven days without food, as I had done it before, and today only marked the second. Five days, I thought, Five days until I can start to worry.
The sun rose slowly that third day. I didn't want to wake up, while asleep I never felt the pain that hunger brought, or the dryness that came with thirst. I had to get ready, though, if I missed the morning rush I'd be in for another day without food. That's the crappy thing about Manehatten; nopony gives to sleeping beggars. I learned that the hard way, believe me.
The day drug on, I got a bit here and there, and by four had enough for a sandwich and water. The shops used to give free water, but times were getting bad for everypony, especially for those who lived downtown. You see, Celestia had just been reunited with her long-lost sister, Luna. Celebrations erupted throughout every town, city, and bus stop, only to drain funds from all of them. The economy crumbled, jobs were lost, money grew tight, and so ponies were naturally less prone to throw bits to the poor.
The reason it was so bad down here? The crime boss Vito Father had just received a shipment of a new drug. This drug, named Toadstoole. It was a rare mushroom that gave the user hallucinations. He sold it primarily to the poor parts of bigger cities, the biggest buyer being downtown Manehatten. The drug really ruined the hole city, scandals of anypony from a foal to Celestia were printed everyday, although Celestia was never proven guilty.
I tried not to care, it only affected me by forcing me to ration my food a little better, and in the long run, actually helped keep me alive. There were three ponies that I talked to, all of them were on the verge of insanity, so I didn't worry about them running their lips about me. Or, I didn't worry about anypony believing them. Those stallions were, Grub, Smack, and Ol' Grumps. Grub was a "retired" chef, pretty successful in his hay-day. Smack was boxer, but his career ending with his Toadstoole addiction coming out. Ol' Grumps never told us his past, I don't think he even knew.
His, oh, what were those called? Cutie Marks? Yeah, that's it, Cutie Mark was a smiling face, but his own face was always adorned with a scowl. Thus, the name Ol' Grumps. They all called me New Fellow, as I was the newest of their group. They had known each other for quite some time before I came along, but accepted me quickly, if only to leach off my bits.
We became good friends, to the point where I never had to wear my blanket-cloak around them. I told them my story, they loved to hear about the other towns and cities I'd visited. I loved to tell them. It was a peaceful time, even with the economy crash and drug-war. We were unaffected by it all. I really do miss those times, I don't know if those three are still around, but I hope they got help. I can't stand the thought of any of them passing.
Back to the story. I was about to ask Grub if he wanted to split a sandwich with me when a mare stopped in front of me. She was beautiful, the most beautiful pony I had ever seen, although I had no real attraction to ponies. She had a white coat, cleaned of any dirt or blemish. Her main was... strange. It looked ghostly. It took me a minute to recognize it, Celestia.
"C-can I help you, miss?" I had never expected the princess to come to this crap-hole of a city, at least not the south side, and was pretty nervous of her finding out about me.
"Yes, I hope. I'm looking for a pony," I let out a huge breath at that, "Who goes by the name, "Ol' Grumps. Have you heard of him?" What do you want with him? I was worried she would do something bad to him, he was a huge Toadstoole addict. And supplier. But really, he was a good pony!
"What's it worth to you?" That, was my stomach talking. I wouldn't normally say something like that, not even to a normal pony, but I was hungry, and my friends were hungrier, so I did what I could.
She scoffed, and pulled a purse from a decorated saddlebag, "This is yours if you can locate him."
"What do you want with him?" I asked that in way to harsh a tone, I just had to act like I didn't recognize her, maybe then she wouldn't banish me.
"Just information, you can tag along if you wish, I want no harm to come to him, either." Her expression was genuine, you learn to read faces pretty well after living the streets for so long.
"O-okay, I'll take you to him." I realized only to late that I couldn't move without her seeing that I was not a pony. Buck! I winced and stood up, on two feet. She was taken aback, and looked utterly shocked. Maybe she really did want to talk with Grumps...
"Oh my!" I expected that. "Your, your, what are you?" I wasn't expecting that. I figured she knew I existed by now, all these years, somepony had to notice me.
"Human, been here twenty-four years, deal with it." Is what I wanted to say. "Nothing!" Is what I did say, right before running down the alley and around the corner. I heard hooves clopping on cobblestone behind me, but I still ran. I wasn't used to running, it hurt really bad, especially on an empty stomach.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted over my shoulder. I didn't expect her to comply, but the hooves stopped clopping, so I turned around. "Buck." She was gone, she had probably gone to get the Royal Guard after me. "Dammit, Grumps!"
"You really should watch your language around a princess." I jumped a full six feet backwards and upwards. Celestia had apparently flown over-head and landed behind me.
"Leave me alone! I don't know anything!" I tried to run back into the alley, I hoped to lose her in the crowds, but she grabbed me in her magic. She turned me so I was facing her, inches from her face.
"You'd never lose me, I can track you easily." Please, please, don't kill me! "But I don't want to, just take me to Grumps and I'll be on my way." I threw her a look like she was crazy before asking, "Uh, why don't you want to take me in?"
She smiled, it was a warm smile, the kind I didn't get to see very often. "I've known about you and your kind for years, I never did anything because you never did anything. No wars were fought, no gangs were formed, why should I interfere when nothing bad has happened." I should have accepted that as an answer, but again, empty stomach equals empty mind.
"Nothing bad? Nothing bad? What do you call starvation? What do you call malnourished humans dying in the streets? Is that okay with you? What, you don't give a rat's ass if we're not ponies?" I was hyped up now, years of anger and hate had built up for this princess. She knew? The whole time? Why not help?
"I-I didn't think... I'm sorry..." I didn't think she'd ever done anything wrong from that reply. Maybe she never thought she had, but a mistake like this made me think there were plenty of others.
"No. I shouldn't have yelled like that... I just had so much... anger towards you. For something you didn't really do, I'll just take you to Grumps and let you go back to Canterlot." Now I felt bad for yelling, I had never felt bad for yelling before. Ever. Even if the pony didn't deserve it, or I was trying to get extra bits out of them, I figured I needed them more. Something about the innocence in her eyes melting away made me feel like garbage, literal trash.
"It's fine, lead the way." Whatever kindness and warmth had been inside her was gone, for me, at least. I might have deserved that, but I really needed the payment, and my stomach was still empty..."You're still going to pay me, right?"
She glared at me, not in the same way normal ponies do, it was spiteful. I must have struck a nerve.
"Fine, be that way." The rest of the walk was spent in silence, although it wasn't long. Grumps was old and didn't move much, unless there were Toadstoole's in it for him. I led Celestia to the dumpster he slept behind and left, I didn't care what she did anymore, I also noticed that her saddlebag was empty, so her bit bag was around somewhere. As I looked around, I realized that I was walking around without my cloak, I had clothes on, but anypony would notice instantly that I was human.
I crept around the alley to make sure nopony was around, of course they weren't, so I grabbed my blanket and left, still searching for the bits.
It took a few minutes to find them, once I did I didn't drop out the bits and run, like I thought I would. I just looked at the bag, it was nice material, obviously an expensive purse. The bits inside were probably worth less than the purse itself. I just stared at it. This would be the first time I had ever stolen, except for clothes, which were far too expensive to afford, and going naked was not an option.
I felt a tug at my heart, I knew what this meant for me, a life of crime, self pity, and aggression to everypony else. I didn't want that life, but the one I was in was non too pretty, either. "Damn these life choices. Damn that princess! Damn everything!" I kept shouting for a while. It was nice to get my anger out of my system, I never lashed out like that before, and everything that had built up before that was weighing heavily. I felt better after that, but I still had to decide what to do about the bag I held.
Celestia was probably gone, she would assume I stole the purse, maybe even have me arrested. I decided to try and see if she was still around, but the alley was empty. Grumps was gone, too. That worried me, a lot. "I swear, if you did anything to him..." I looked around for any clues to his disappearance, but none were found. "Oh, Grumps, what did you get yourself into?"
In front of me was his tie, the only thing that he ever wore, aside from dirt and trash. It was partially burned, and the smell of magic was in the air. A tear fell from my eyes, I loved that pony like a father, and that sick, disgusting princess killed him. She was going to pay me, just so she could find him. She could have sent a guard to do it, no, she did it herself. The blood is on her hooves.
I broke down, the thought of Grumps dead made me sick. I clutched the bag of bits in my hand, and stepped out of the alley.