It is said that destiny is just a predetermined path in the life of every living being. How they are born, how they grow, the decisions they make, with who they’ll share their lives, and of course, how they will die. And no matter what people want to think, they do not make their own destinies, they are destined to do what they do, even the decision to think otherwise. Everything has been already written and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Daniel Cero believes in this statement, and he’s ok with it. He just lives his life to see what’s going to happen next, how many people he will meet, if he will ever get married, who will be his future wife, and on and on. But he’s a lonely guy, not because he doesn’t enjoy others’ company, but because he’s not much of a talking guy, he enjoys the silence, and he likes to think that he only talks when it’s necessary, so he doesn’t waste words.
And because most people don’t enjoy silence as he does, Daniel grew without real friends, just the ephemeral relationship with random people. He was ok with it, as long as no one dared to insult or bully him, he was ok. He just lived his life to see what was going to happen; he was born with the ability of foreshadowing, so it was rare when something took him by surprise, and even so, he could expect something.
What he did not expect, however, was what happened in winter of his 20th birthday. He was walking home from his archery class, the wind was smooth and cold, just enough to make him realize he forgot his scarf. Daniel was lost in his mind, thinking on whatever crossed his eyes, the few birds gliding just above the trees in the nearest park, the children playing with a fake snowman in front of a restaurant, and the snowflakes that were starting to fill his sight field.
“Wait, snow?” He asked to himself. It was strange, not to say impossible. There never snowed in his town, not in the last 30 years, at least. He was hypnotized looking the snow slowly fall to the ground, more amused than surprised. Daniel had never seen snow ever before, just on TV or magazines. He was excited, and he was going to take a photo or video to remember it while he could, so he started to walk again and quickly go home for a camera.
But when he finally stopped watching the snow, and focused on the path, he realized he was no longer in a street. In fact, from what he could see, he wasn’t even in a town, he was in some kind of forest. “No, a farm.” He said out loud. Daniel’s father was a farmer, and he learned to recognize the pattern the trees had in a farm to allow the farmers to collect the fruit more easily. “How the heck I ended in a farm?” The trees were leafless and covered in snow, and the sky was starting to become orange and red, in was about to get dark, and Daniel had to search for a house before everything else so he wouldn’t die in the cold.
So he started to follow the path, it was easy to tell since he could see cart marks on it. Every second was colder, he expected the snow to fall more quickly and maybe become a small storm, but that never happened. The snow was as slow as before, slow and monotonous. It was luck, but Daniel wouldn’t trust his luck, so he quickened his pace until he could see a mill at the distance. If there was a mill, there had to be a farmhouse, Daniel concluded. Seeing that the snow apparently wasn’t going to become a storm made him less worried, but it was still getting darker and colder, so he started to trot.
And finally there it was, maybe a mile away he could spot the shape of a house, so he ran, the path wasn’t entirely covered with snow, so he had no trouble making his way to the salvation of a horrible frozen death.
When he was about to knock the door, he saw the silhouette of a small horse in the corner of his eye. He didn’t think about it, it was a farm after all. But then he felt pain in the back of his head, and everything faded to darkness.
~~~~~~~~
“Whaddya mean ya don’ know?” Daniel heard a female voice as if it was coming from another room, he felt his head spin around wildly and his vision starting to catch some colors again. He first saw the wooden ceiling. ‘Am I in the farmhouse?’ He let his muscles relax a little; at least he wasn’t going to die in the snow.
“Just that,” He heard a second voice, female again, this time closer than the first one. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Why didn’t you call Fluttershy? She’s the animal expert.”
“Ah called her before ya, she said it looks like a monkey, but nothin’ else”
“Have you tried to wake it up? Maybe it can talk and tell us itself.” By this moment, Daniel was starting to feel that the two girls were talking about him. But he wasn’t sure, and he wouldn’t do anything to startle them, so he let out a small groan to make them know he was awake. “Hey, it’s waking up.”
Daniel heard the sound of hooves getting closer, he dismissed the thought, it must be a hallucination, and he still heard a small ring inside his head. “Uh… hey partner, ya feel ok?” Daniel always liked the southern accent, maybe because he grew up in a farm. It made him feel comfortable.
He slowly sat up and realized he was in some kind of couch, though it was horribly small, he wasn’t able to stretch his legs properly. “Yeah… I’m fine…” He said closing his eyes and grinding his teeth. The pain in the back of his head was getting worse.
“Ah’m sorry ‘bout that, Big Mac thought ya were some kind’a intruder.” So that was the reason why he fainted. Well, one mystery solved, he decided to find out how he ended there and how he could get back home. But when he opened his eyes once again and turned to face the lady who was talking to him, he almost fainted again.
In front of him was the smallest horse he had ever seen, or at least he thought it was a horse. It was orange with blonde mane, and the impossibly biggest eyes he had ever seen in an animal. He felt pity for the poor thing, it must have been born disfigured and its owners kept it for compassion.
“Minding tellin’ me yer name? Ah’m Applejack”
‘IT CAN TALK?!’ Daniel fought the instinct to hit the thing in the face and run for his life. It wasn’t possible, it had to be a dream, but the pain in his head told him it couldn’t possibly be a dream. A hallucination had to be the answer, maybe he was kidnapped and drugged, but then again, it wasn’t likely. Why would anyone want to kidnap him? He wasn’t rich and as far as he knew, he didn’t have any problem with someone who might want a vengeance.
‘Ok Daniel, keep it together.’ He closed his eyes and frowned. ‘This can be a dream, the effect of a drug or a well done prank. The first two options are unlikely, so this can only be a prank.’ He crossed his fingers in front of his face. ‘Ok, if I fake that I believe in this prank, whoever doing it is going to end it soon. Ok, it’s time to see if I’m a good actor.’
Daniel opened his eyes to the confused mare and gave it a smile. “Hi, my name is Daniel.” He made himself as comfortable as he could in the small couch. “Can you tell me where am I?”
The mini horse returned him the smile, a confident one. “Yer in Sweet Apple Acres. Ah’ve never seen anythin’ like ya… What are ya?” It seemed that the prank was going to last a while.
“I’m a human. Scientifically speaking, I’m a Homo Sapiens.” He said with a small amount of pride in his words. “And you?”
“We are ponies.” Daniel heard the second voice, and as he guessed, it was another tiny horse with the same big eyes. This one was purple and it had a horn on its face. ‘Seriously? How much money they spent just for this prank?’ “Scientifically speaking, we are Equus ferus caballus.” Now that was interesting, the purple mare looked like it was excited. “But my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Twilight” He had to fight the urge to facepalm. Even if it was a prank, he felt stupid for talking with well done machines. “Listen, I don’t know how I came here, I just want to get back home, can you help me?”
“Well, we’ve never seen anything like you before” Said the purple pony with a combination of disappointment and excitement in its face. Maybe that was the reason why its wings were spread at both sides as if it had a boner. ‘Wait, wings? I didn’t know unicorns had wings- Oh come on! If you’re going to prank me, at least make real mythological creatures!’ “But if I make a deep research, maybe I can find out where you come from.”
“Hey Twah? What if ‘tis another of Discord’s pranks?” Said the orange one looking at Daniel with anger in its eyes and adopting a defensive posture. ‘Great, now they want me to run and scream as a little girl so they can make fun on me. Well, that’s not gonna happen.’
“I don’t think so, AJ, Discord promised not to make living creatures anymore since the mud golem incident.” The so called Applejack gave her fellow pony a stern glare and then looked away. The winged unicorn then looked at Daniel with a smile. “Well, I’d like to cast a tracing spell on you, maybe that can tell me where you come from.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow and saw its horn glow, it was a nice effect, he had to admit. And then, he felt his body feel warmer than before, as if he suddenly was covered with a blanket. The feeling lasted a few seconds and then faded.
“I… I’m sorry…” Said Twilight with a sad face and looking at the floor. “The spell didn’t tell me anything… As if you just appeared here out of nowhere.”
“N’ whaddya mean with that?” Asked Applejack, she was now wearing a brown hat.
“Remember what Princess Celestia told us about alternate universes?” Applejack narrowed her eyes and frowned a little, then shook her head. “Starswirl the bearded had a theory where he said that there are more universes in existence, just like…” Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof, looking through the room. “Just like apples in a basket.
“Each apple is a universe, and inside of one of them, there’s a whole world full of life. But as you can see, even if the apples are touching each other, they don’t interact with each other, they’re just there.”
‘Well, if this orange pony doesn’t understand with that explanation, it will prove two myths at once.’ “But if he’s from another app-universe, how did he come here? N’ how will he return home?”
Twilight started to walk in circles with one of her wings rubbing her chin. “I don’t know… I’d have to study him…” She didn’t stop walking, in fact, she was moving a bit faster. “But right now it’s night, he must be tired and I have a meeting with Cadence tomorrow…” She stopped walking and looked at Applejack, who seemed to catch what Twilight was about to say. “If you don’t mind, AJ, he could stay here for the time being until I come back?”
AJ nodded, but before she could say something, Daniel suddenly stood up, startling the two ponies. “Ok, this prank went way too far.” He said looking at the ceiling, searching for hidden cameras. “This is not funny anymore! Stop this nonsense right now!”
“W-Who are you talking to?” Asked Twilight, which only made Daniel to look at her with anger. He started to walk at her with the obvious intention to hurt her. The human was tall, almost as tall as Discord, but with longer and thicker arms.
Twilight started to walk backwards, but that only made Daniel to walk faster. She decided to use her magic and levitate the human to stop him, it was a surprise that she was having troubles to use her magic on him, as if he was made of iron. He was way heavier than she expected.
“W-What is the meaning of this?” Asked Daniel more to himself than to Twilight. He was flying? No, he felt as if he was lying down in a boat in the shore of a river. Was this a dream after all? Was he hallucinating after all? He started to feel dizzy, and suddenly, he felt really tired, his eyes closed against his will, and he fell asleep.