//------------------------------//
// Making friends 
// Story: The Nightmare in the Moon 
// by Omega Dracomancer 
//------------------------------//

I heard a faint voice. 'That was pathetic. I shouldn't be this weak.'

"Man, these headaches have to stop." I said, holding my hand over my head.

I sat up. I had been moved to a bed. It was unmistakably Twilight's. "Ah man, what happened last night?" I asked.

"He's awake." I heard her say, "Stay here, I'll get him." She came up the stairs. "Are you ok?"

"Same as I was earlier, I guess. Head still hurts."

"I wouldn't doubt it. You hit it on the ground." she said.

"What about you? I heard a glass break." I said.

"That was nothing. I'm fine. You were talking in your sleep. It was actually kinda worrisome."

"What'd I say?"

"You said that Nightmare Moon is back."

"That's... bad? Right? Am I right?"

"Yeah, that's really bad. I told the Princess about it and she said that she wanted to talk to you right away.

"Probably for the best." I said. I got off the bed and stretched a little. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. Only an hour. Come downstairs, there's some ponies you should meet."

I followed her down. Her friends were down there.

"Whoa... I've never seen a real human before!" said Pinkie.

"So this is the guy?" asked Rainbow.

"I'm... the guy." I said, "Name's Phil. Who are you all?"

They introduced themselves.

"Alright. Friends within seconds. This is pretty cool. So why are you all here? I interrupt some sort of... thing?" I asked.

"Princess Celestia told me to bring them with us. I figured that you should meet them before we left. We were sent tickets for the train. We should actually leave. We're departing soon."

"That's awesome. I've never been on a train before." I said, "Lets get goin'."

We left for the station. Ponies around town went out of their way to avoid us. Likely because of me.

"Oh, no! I almost forgot something!" said Pinkie. She jumped in front of us. "I haven't welcomed you to Ponyville yet!"

"Uhh... That won't be necessary." I said, "I already feel welcome."

"Nonsense!" she said.

"Alright, sounds fun."

"Great!" said Pinkie, "Stay here, I'll be right back."

She ran off. As soon as she turned a corner, she came back with a wagon following her. Welcome wagon. Funny.

She started singing a song and jumping around. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention. I just stood there smiling like an idiot. There was a cannon and confetti... and probably something else.

"Aw, I did it backwards." she said, "Oh well."

"Alright. Thanks Pinkie! I feel welcomed-er." I said.

"Well, now that that's over, lets go." said Twilight.

The ponies at the station didn't really seem to like me. A pony was staring at us from behind a newspaper. We got aboard the train.

Twilight took me to a room in the train and said, "It'll take us a day to get there, so you can sleep here when it's time."

"This train is pretty nice." I said.

They made final calls for boarding. A few minutes later, we started moving.

"I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?" I asked.

"It's 3:00." said Twilight.

"So, what? No breakfast?"

"I'll get you some food." said Pinkie, "Be right back!"

It only took her a few seconds to come back with an entire dessert cart. "I didn't know what to get, so I got everything."

"Oh god... It's beautiful." I said, looking at the towering pile of food. We all got something from it. "Thanks, Pinkie."

"No problem!"

"Man, best day of my life, right here." I said, "And there's food, so that pretty much makes it unsurpassable."

"Why is it the best day of your life?" asked Pinkie.

"Free food." I said, "I mean, look at this thing. It's food, it's free, it's free food. If that doesn't make it the best day ever, I don't know what will."

I grabbed some more food. It tasted awesome.

"Hey, save some for us, man." said Rainbow.

"What are you..." I looked at the almost empty plate. "Ok then... I ate more than I usually do."

"Between you and Pinkie, the rest of us barely got anything."

I looked at Pinkie, then shrugged. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Well, don't worry about it."

"Done and done. Hey, could you tell me more about this place? You know, stuff like that Nightmare Moon thing. And that Princess Celestia pony... and pretty much this world in general. I've never been here before, so I don't know."

Of course, I already knew this stuff. I just asked that so she could kill time.

Twilight told me what I needed to know, with the other ponies chiming in every so often. They talked a little in-depth about themselves and their town, along with Canterlot, the Everfree, and gave me some basic knowledge of Equestria. They also talked about the princesses and Nightmare Moon, telling about how they defeated her and about the Elements.

'To defeat the ponies, you defeat the Elements of Harmony.' I thought, bored, 'Then the challenge lies in the royalty, and defeating Discord will be the biggest problem, provided he decides to help them. There's at least a 90% chance that he will. They're friends.'

I kinda faded in and out during storytime. I saw the pony who was looking at us before. He was at the other end of the car, still staring.

'Whatever.'

"So is there anything else you would like to know?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm curious about Princess Luna. If this Nightmare Moon thing is popping up like this, then would she be safe?"

"I sure hope so." she said with a sad voice, "She hasn't really had much time to... adjust to her new life."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." I said, "Thanks for all the information. If I'm gonna stay here for a long time, that'll help."

"You're welcome."

I stretched myself out a little. "I'm gonna check out the train. I guess I'll see you all in a bit."

"Right."

I walked back to the caboose, then out the door to the little balcony-thing.

"Man, trains are sweet. I've never gone this fast before." I said to myself, "And these ponies make this even better. I am so glad I became their friends instead of their enemies. That would've sucked."

I walked back inside, then headed towards the front of the train. The staring pony shot a glance at me as I passed by him, but continued looking down the hall.

"Well, somepony's got some post traumatic stress disorder." I said.

The rest of the train wasn't very interesting. All except for the lunch car. Unfortunately, I was already full so I didn't really care.

I went back, looking for entertainment. 'Even surrounded by these awesome ponies I'm bored. I suck. Oh well.'

There he is again, staring down the hall. What is he looking at?

He didn't see me come in. I followed his gaze to Fluttershy, who was resting on a seat a little away from the others.

"Hey buddy, how ya doin'?" I asked him.

He looked at me, then said, "Get away from me. I don't want anything to do with you."

"Harsh. Whatcha lookin' at?"

"I said get away from me."

"Alright. Sorry for botherin' ya."

I went over to Fluttershy and sat next to her. "I have a question for you." I said.

"Oh, alright."

"What do you think about all this? Going to see the Princesses and such."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think it'll be fine."

"Alright, cool." I said.

I reached into my pockets, hoping to find my ipod. Nope. 'Quite unfortunate. Quite unfortunate indeed. My music could come in handy about now. I hope I don't get too bored.'

"Hey, you know that guy over there?" I asked her.

"Yes I do. His name is Lightning Dasher. He's very nice."

"Lightning Dasher's here?" asked Rainbow, "He owes me ten bits, where is that guy?"

I pointed at him. She went over to him and they started talking. I went over to them.

"Yes I did!" she said.

"No you didn't. I didn't see it."

"You saw it didn't ya, Phil?" she asked me.

"Uh... Yes?"

"See? Now pay up!"

"Alright, fine." he said, reaching into his bag. He gave her some money, then she went back to her seat.

"Thanks a lot, pal." he said.

"Oh, shut up." I said, "Hey, could ya do me a favor and quit starin' like that? It's startin' to creep me out."

He didn't say anything.

I sat next to him. "Dude, if you're gonna ask her out, then do it." I said, trying to embarrass him, "She's pretty cool."

"What? I don't like Fluttershy! Get away from me, you jerk!"

"Alright. Sorry, bud." I said, getting up. I laughed a little.

"Wait." he said.

"What up?"

"You're friends with her, right? Can you see if she..."

"I don't get involved in things like that, bud. Although she did tell me that she thought you were nice. By the way, name's Phil."

"Lightning Dasher."

"So are we cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

"Alright, cool. Whatcha headed to Canterlot for?"

"Just seeing some friends. What about you?"

"Gotta see the princess."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Something pretty big happened a little while back, and I'm here to help solve it. It's kind of secret, so I can't really explain it."

"Alright."

We talked a little more, then he yawned.

"Man, it's getting late. I better hit the sack."

"Yeah. Hey, you're alright in my book."

"You too."

"See ya later." I said.

I headed back to my bed. The clock said it was 10:30. I went back to where we were staying and tried to get some sleep.

Try as I might, I just couldn't fall asleep. I looked at the clock. 12:00. I sighed. "Oh well, I guess. I'm not really that tired anyways."

I sat up and looked out the window. Full moon.

I heard whispering.

"Who's there?" I asked quietly.

It stopped. I shrugged and walked back out of the room. It was a little eerie without anypony else around.

"I need something to do. If this boredom keeps up I'm gonna go crazy." I said to myself.

I noticed that Twilight's light was still on. I tapped on the door.

"Come in." I opened the door. She was reading a book on her bed.

"Do you have an extra book or something I could borrow?" I asked.

"Well, not to dissuade you from reading or anything, but shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Can't. I tried. Not very hard, but I did."

"Oh. The only books I brought with me are non-fiction."

"I'm bored, I'll read anything."

She gave me one.

"Thanks."

"You should really try to get some sleep. Meeting the princess is a big deal. You wouldn't want to be tired for it."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

I went back to my room and started reading. It was mostly about the history of Canterlot.

I didn't get to sleep at all. I was up all night. It started getting bright outside.

As enthralling and interesting as this book was, I finally set it down and looked out the window at Canterlot.

"Dude, that place looks awesome." I said, "Whatever happens, this should be an interesting experience. I just hope that I don't make Celestia or Luna mad. Alright, you can do this."

I got myself some early breakfast, then waited for the others to get up.

"Did you get to sleep?" asked Twilight.

"Nope. Wasn't really sleepy anyways."

She sighed. "At least you don't seem all that tired. Do you do this a lot?"

"I'm out before 11:00 usually." I gave her book back. "Thanks again."

The train entered the station and we all got off. I didn't see Lightning Dasher get off. Maybe he was still sleeping or something.

Two ponies walked over to us. One was a royal guard and the other was a normal mare.

"You must be Phil." she said.

"Yep."

"Well, you're taller than I expected." she said cheerfully, "We're here to bring you to the castle."

I eyed the guard. "Alright, thanks."

"No time to waste. Don't want to keep the Princess waiting."

We started following them. The guard was watching me closely. I expected that to happen, but I still didn't like it.

"Man, this is pretty awesome." I said, "I've never met royalty before. Does it matter much how I act?"

"You should try to act civil while you're in their presence." said Rarity, "It'd be rude otherwise."

"Good thinking." I said.

When we got there, two guards stopped us.

"Princess Celestia has requested to see the human alone." one said.

I looked at my friends. "Guess I'll see ya later."

I followed them in. They brought me straight to Princess Celestia. I bowed to her. She was more majestic in person.

She raised her hoof. "Welcome to Equestria, Phil the human. I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of this kingdom."

"Hello, Your Highness."

She walked over to me. "It's been a very long time since a human has been in Equestria."

"Well, none of us know how that happened."

"I don't know either."

"Hey wait... Wasn't there another princess? Princess Luna?"

"My sister has caught an illness and is resting at the moment. That brings me to my next question. What do you know about Nightmare Moon?" she asked, starting to walk around me.

"Not much. Just stuff your student, Twilight Sparkle, has told me. She's very informative."

"Then do you have an idea of why I was told that you said she was back while you slept?"

"Sorry, I don't know."

She kept walking around me, examining me. "I'm curious about you, Phil. It's actually quite amazing to see you here."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you think I'm dangerous?"

She stopped walking. "Hmm... That's a tough question. You don't seem dangerous, but I really can't tell. Do you think you'll be a danger to my ponies?"

"I don't wanna be." I said, "You ponies are pretty cool. I'd prefer keeping you safe than putting you in danger."

"That's good." she said. She resumed her walking. "I don't remember this very well, but can humans use magic?"

"They aren't suppose to." I said, "I can't."

"Do you have a family back in your world?"

"Yeah. We're a normal family for the most part."

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Nope."

"I want to find out how you're involved in this, Phil. Have you had contact with Nightmare Moon before?"

"No."

"Did you know who she was?"

"No."

"Can you explain why this is happening?"

"No."

"Do you understand any of this?"

"Not really."

She stood in front of me. She had a serious expression on her face. I wasn't out of the woods yet. "Send my student and her friends in." she ordered a guard.

He left, then returned with them. They all bowed to Celestia.

Celestia went over to them and gestured towards me. "Twilight, do you think that he's dangerous?"

'This is an awful lot of suspicion just for me. Just as well, I suppose.' I thought.

"Not at all, Princess." she said.

"Do you trust him?"

"Yes."

"And the rest of you?" she asked.

They all nodded in agreement.

"He's our friend."

I smiled at them. "Thank you. Glad to hear it." I said. 'At least someone trusts me. I don't even trust me.'

Celestia nodded. Her expression changed to a cheerful one and she said, "It looks like you're quite the friendly human. I'm glad to see things turn out like this."

"Wouldn't want it any other way, Princess."