The next morning I awoke to the distant sound of a knock on the door. “mmmmm mom five more minutes ok I swear I won’t be late.” I said half asleep and not realizing I’m still in equestrian. The knocking sounded again but with a quicker pace making me grunt in annoyance “Mom I’m fine. Stop with the knocking” I said just as the knocking sounded once more. Giving an irritated sigh I opening my eyes and sat up. My eyes were only half open and my vision was blurred since I didn’t have my glasses on which I quickly fixed as I picked them off of the nightstand and placed them in their rightful place on the bridge of my nose. “Alright im up I’m……” stopping mid-sentence I realized that I wasn’t in my room at home but rather my room in equestria. My entire being seemed to become depressed as the reality of this not being a dream, of me not being able to go home, not being able to see my friends or my loving parents for god only knows how long, and especially of not being able to do a single fucking thing about it dug its way so painfully into my chest a few silent tears began to roll down my cheeks. The silent tears turned into sniffles but I managed to composed myself before it could turn into sobbing with several deep breaths.
It was then I remembered what vinyl had said to me last night; about how this was a fresh start and that I should live it up. The phrase “live it up” brought a slight smile to my face as I tried to recall the last time I had heard anyone say it. She was right though. Granted my situation sucks but I should be looking at the pro’s and not the con’s of all this. My dad had always said to make the best of what you are given. That quote had always worked for me before so I see no reason it shouldn’t work now. Taking a deep breath I sighed and stood up, grabbing my clothes off of the floor and pulled my shirt over my head and was in the middle of putting my pants on when I heard the knocking sound again though this time it was more like a slamming sound. “Shit that was real?” Having thought it was just a part of my half conscious mind I’d completely forgotten about it. Whoever was at the door was obviously not happy that I was making them wait.
I pulled up my pants and quickly made my way down the stairs and across the living room to the front door unlocking it. The moment it opened I heard what I thought was a collective gasp from several ponies. My assumption was correct as I could see a small crowd of them forming a semi circle about ten meters or so from the house. “Is something the matter?” I asked them wondering why they looked so scared. There was a high pitched *SQUEE* from right in front of me that made me jump and look down. Directly under my line of sight was a mint green unicorn mare who had the look of a child on Christmas morning plastered to her face. There was an awkward pause of silence between us as I looked from her to the crowd and back. ‘do they think I’m gonna hurt her?’. I noticed the mint unicorns irises were a vibrant yellow-gold a very much like the eyes of a claymore when it uses it’s yoki aura at ten percent and up, save for the fact that hers didn’t have vertical pupils like a predator. Roughly a minute passed before I spoke “can i….help you?” I asked raising an eyebrow. The mare responded by jumping into the air, cheering and dancing around screaming.
“I KNEW IT I KNEW IT THEY ARE REAL THEY ARE REAL I WAS RIGHT. AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS OF STUDYING I FINALLY HAVE PROOF” she continued like that for awhile before walking back over to me barely able to compose herself. she cleared her throat before speaking “u-uh um h-h-hello mister…….Human……m-mm-my name is Lyra H-Heartstrings” she seemed to take her time with the word human as if saying it was a taboo or something. Slowly as she spoke she began to stutter less and was eventually speaking normally “a-a-and I’m a a student at canterlot University. My current major is, well…..you, or more specifically your species.”
“Okaaaaayy” i was rather curious to see where this was heading ‘twilight did say I wasn’t the first human to come to Equestria so I shouldn’t be surprised there is a field of study about us. Though she said she was trying to obtain a degree in mythology. If humans had been here before wouldn’t she be trying to get a degree in anthropology or history…...’I went off into my own world of thought before Lyra continued bringing me back to reality.
“And I am currently in the middle of writing my thesis on human instinct and morality but everything I’m basing it off of are simple stories and nursery rhymes so I doubt I would have a chance at getting published.” She took a breath and her eyes went up and down my body in what I can only describe as immense curiosity and wonder before she re focused her eyes on mine. “But if I could have the backing of a living human to prove to the world they do exist, I could show them my research isn’t wasted or pointless or unbeneficial to society. So what I’m trying to say is………can you please help me? I know we don’t know each other b-but It would just be a few questions and maybe you could look over my research and tell me what you think? I-I’d be willing to pay you for your time even.” she had replaced her beaming smile with a pleading look of desperation and hope. I thought about everything she had said. I could tell by the way she spoke that her research had been given a lot of grief by others which is understandable if she really was basing a whole thesis on such flimsy info.
I didn’t have a thing to lose by helping her so I shrugged and held my hand out for her to shake. “If tonight is ok with you, I’d be happy to help out with your thesis Lyra. Why don’t you bring your research here tonight and we can go over it then, sound good?” her pupils seemed to expand by an impossibly unnatural amount before she jump up high enough that we were eye level and wrapped her hooves around me.
“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH THAT’S PERFECT THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU” her tail swung wildly and she once more let out an adorable high pitched *SQUEE*.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the childish behavior. Though after thirty seconds it started to get weird. Apparently she was in her own world or something like that as she still clung to me “uh…..Lyra you mind?” I asked her as she seemed to come back to reality with a blush and hopped back to the ground not making eye contact.
“S-sorry about that i-I just got excited and i…..i’m sorry” she lowered her head in embarrassment
“it’s fine but the hug just got a bit too long is all. So I’ll see you tonight, how does sunset sound?”
“That would be perfect” she said before looking me in the eyes “thank you again. You have no idea how much this means to me.” she said before turning to run off.
“She seems nice.” I said to myself, closing the door and heading back up to my room. I yawned which in turn made my eyes water. I rubbed my palms over my eyes to wipe away the moisture and then ran my fingers through my hair and felt the layer of grease that was a result of me not having taken a shower since I got here which meant I probably stank too. “I hope they have plumbing here.”
I rationalized that if they had electrical lighting then there had to be other modern commodities. Sure enough I got my answer as I opened the door next to the closet in my room to see tub with hot and cold nobs and a faucet.
Unfortunately the tub itself looked too small for me to actually lie in but thankfully there was a stand in shower big enough for me. I opened the door to the shower and looked in to find a plastic basket with several bottles that held a strange form of writing on the labels. It was probably some foreign brand. Either way I shrugged and examined the rest of what was in the basket. A few bars of soap, a brush and comb for the mane and coat most likely, and……oh god please tell me I’m wrong. In the back corner of the basket were five of what looked like condom wrappers. I picked one up and sure enough I could feel the ring of rolled up latex. In that moment it clicked in my mind why the shower was big enough to fit me. it wasn’t this big for show it was like that for when two ponies wanted to get intimate with each other. Looking back at the wrapped condom in my hand I noted it was the same size as a condom from earth.
‘hm maybe I might be able to us-‘
“Hold on hold on hold on was I actually gonna think that. God I know I want a girlfriend but really?” I said dropping the still wrapped condom back into the basket.
I then grabbed a towel from the towel rack and set it by the showers door for when I got out. I then stripped and stepped back into the shower shutting the door and turning on the water. At first it came out freezing cold which I should have seen coming but then it slowly turned warm as I adjusted the knobs for the temperature. Giving a relaxed sigh I let the water wash over me and then I remembered how It felt while being sucked through the sink hole portal. My body shook at the memory, at the fact that I had pretty much resigned myself to death then. I clenched my fists and jaw but that sent a rippling pain through my still broken molars. I hunched over and placed a hand to my cheek “Fuuuuuuuuck that hurts. I should have gotten the address of the dentist when Fluttershy mentioned her. I guess I’ll go look for her office later” I said forgetting about the memory of the sink hole and picked up one of the bottle in the basket. It had the outline of a pony with a flowing mane which I assumed meant it was for mares and that freaky foreign writing was on it but I shrugged and popped the cap. Even if it was for mares it was still shampoo so it would do the same as guys shampoo. I rubbed the shampoo into my hair and worked it into every nook and cranny that was my scalp before rinsing it out. Once that was done i unraveled a bar of soap and ran it over my wet skin until I was fully lathered in every area my arms could reach. I closed my eyes as I let the water wash the soap from me and once I was done rinsing off I turned off the water and reached for the towel and began drying myself off inside the shower. i made my way over to my clothes which still laid on the floor and put them on. Once out of the bathroom I gave another yawn and stretched a bit before grabbing my backpack and my ipod and heading out the front door of the house. Locking the door behind me I went over to my bike which I had leaned against the wall. I flipped up the kickstand and sat on it and placed my one foot on a pedal while I used my other foot to remain upright. The pedals weren’t exactly comfortable due to the tiny plastic spikes on the pedals for creating greater traction digging into my soles but i ignored it and pushed off and began to pedal my way down the road.
For a while I didn’t see anypony in the street but then I rounded a corner and squeezed the breaks skidding to a stop as I nearly ran into a large mass of ponies in what looked like a market district. Though now they were all staring at me. everything went quiet and I gulped, preparing for mass panic I was about to turn around to go down another road before I heard a familiar voice calling my name
“Yo Conner wait up” I turned to see Vinyl trotting over to me with her large shades covering her eyes. She had a light smile on her face probably from absorbing the attention she was getting for walking right up to ‘the mysterious alien’ in front of everypony. I looked at the crowd seeing they had the same expressions as when Lyra had visited which helped confirm my suspicion.
“Oh hey Vinyl what’s up?”
“Meh nothing much. Octavia asked me to pick up some groceries for dinner tonight since she has to practice for a gig of her own tomorrow”
“Who’s Octavia?”
“She’s my roommate, and plays the cello. She is originally from Canterlot but moved here to Ponyville after a nasty break up.”
“What happened?”
“She hasn’t told me any of the details but I try not to pry since it isn’t my place to get involved. All she tells me is that she needed to get away from him as soon as possible. Aaaaaaaanyway what brings you out here? Getting a feel for the town?” she asked.
“Sort of. I’m trying to find out where the dentist’s office is. I just can’t remember her name is all”
“OH you mean Colgate, yeah I know where her office is. I’ll show you if you carry the groceries for me” she said giving me a smirk. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“Sounds fair to me.” I said and then she turned her attention to my bike
“So what’s this thing? Looks like one of those bikes that rich ponies ride but why does it only have two wheels?”
“Because it only needs two wheels.”
“How does that work”
“Lots of balance” I said and her jaw dropped a bit before a large smile appeared on her face.
“That is so cool.” She said to which I rolled my eyes.
“I guess” we began to walk towards the market but I stopped looking at the group of ponies still watching us.
Vinyl lifted a hoof and gestured to me “What he’s cool. Stop acting like zombies.”
There was a long pause and slowly ponies bean to pick up where they left off either chatting with one another or walking to the next stand or back home though plenty were still eyeing me. “Well at least they aren’t panicking.” I said to myself and began to pull my bike along with me next to Vinyl as she shopped for the food for dinner. Once she was done i was hefting a very full paper bag of fruits and vegetables in one arm and leading my bike with the other. It was only a five minute walk until we got to Vinyl’s house and I set my bike against the front wall as she unlocked the door and led me inside. Once the door opened I could immediately hear the sound of a cello being played. It was a pleasant tune and began to pick up its tempo to the point where I was surprised one could play that quickly with hooves. “She’s really good.”quickly finding the kitchen i set the bag down on the table.
“I know right. OCTIE I’M BACK” Vinyl yelled up the steps and the music stopped. I heard the sound of hoof steps as Octavia came down. She was an earth pony with a grey coat and a near black grey mane. Her eye color was a deep purple that stuck out in contrast to her coat and mane. Her face held an air of professionalism and seriousness to it which was rather imposing to say the least.
“Oh hello vinyl, I trust you got everything on the list for tonight’s stew.” Her voice matched her stature perfectly and I couldn’t help but stare as she spoke.
Vinyl nodded “Yup I got everything we’ll need and I also got a friend of mine to help me carry everything” she once again gestured to me and the second Octavia laid eyes on me her pupils shrunk and she jumped back with a gasp. Her knees buckled and she fell to her stomach.
“V-VINYL WHAT IN TARTAROUS IS THAT THING” she screamed and buried her face in her hooves.
I rolled my eyes and looked to see Vinyl on the floor laughing her ass off ‘I’ll bet she was expecting this to happen’ I sighed and walked over to the cowering pony crouching down and holding out my hand to her. She cringed and scooted away, her tail going between her legs as she began to shake. Vinyl’s laughter only grew as she slammed her hooves into the ground. I looked back at Octavia and sighed “You know I’m not gonna hurt you right?” she didn’t even look up.
Vinyl finally composed herself and was wiping tears from her eyes “H-hey Octie relax, this is the guy I was telling you about from last night’s gig.” Octavia immediately shot her head up as she looked from me to Vinyl and back. Her face lit up with a deep red and she scrambled to stand up.
“V-v-vinyl that wasn’t i-in an-anyway funny.” She said in a stammering voice.
“Are you kidding me it was hilarious you looked like you were about to wet yourself again.” Octavia lowered her head in embarrassment as vinyl’s laughter started up again.
“For what it’s worth you do look cute when you are scared?” Her head shot up to look at me with surprised eyes and an even deeper blush.
“w-we-well I uh umm….” She cleared her throat and slowly held out a hoof “M-my name is Octavia Melody it’s……nice to meet you.” she said and then looked back at the floor. I simlply smiled and gently took her hoof in my hand and shook it before letting go
“I’m Conner Nickerson and the pleasure is mine” I said. She just traced her hoof across the floor and
mumbled something I couldn’t understand.
Vinyl looked at Octavia and gasped “no way Octie you like him”
Octavia went stiff and jerked her head towards vinyl. “WHAT i-I do not. I’ve only just met him and and and……” she was obviously stuck on what to say. “l-let’s just put the food in the fridge so it doesn’t spoil.” She said walking past me and got the food from the table and began putting it into a small fridge.
"I heard you playing upstairs Octavia. I gotta say I had no idea anypony could play like that, it sounded amazing.” I could see a small smile appear on her face as I said that and continued to put the food away.
“Why thank you Conner. It’s nice to see somepony has an appreciation for my talent.” She glares at vinyl
“What so I’m not the biggest fan of classical. Sue me.” she says
We finished stocking the fridge and vinyl and I turned to leave but before we could get to the door Octavia stopped us. “Now hold on a minute. if you are gonna introduce me to somepony the least you could do is stay for a small cup of tea before you leave.” the thought of hot water against my broken teeth made me shudder as I turned to her.
“Maybe some other time Octavia I actually have to get to a dental appointment now but perhaps tomorrow we can have that cup of tea ok?” she let out a sigh before lowering her hoof.
“Very well I won’t keep you.” she said walking back to the kitchen to make herself something. I felt vinyl flick her tail against my hand as she motioned to the door.
“It was nice meeting you Octavia” she turned to look at me and I swear I saw her blush
“Likewise. Do take care of yourself now” she said as we headed out the door. I grabbed my bike and walked with vinyl leading the way towards the dentists
“You know you caught her eye right?” she said to me. I blushed lightly at the thought.
“Oh come on. How could anypony have feeling for me? I’m not even a pony and she just met me”
“Yeah but you called her cute and you said her music was amazing. Most stallions just approach her because of her looks not her talent and when they do tell her about her talent it is usually just about a job. Trust me you made a good first impression.” my face only seemed to get redder as she said this.
“I-I was just being honest.” I stammered and she only laughed
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed dude she is a real catch. Any stallion would feel lucky just to call her a friend.”
“If you say so.” I said trying not to sound like I cared as we got to Colgate’s dental office.
“Well here we are. I’ll see you around. And don’t forget to come by tomorrow or Octavia will be pissed.” She said trotting off as I walked inside the offices front door.
After the receptionist stopped freaking out she gave a sign in sheet and said that Colgate would be with me soon. Filling out the sheet I took a seat in the waiting room and picked up a magazine and began to read to myself.