It was a nice pleasant walk as Jason walked toward town with Applejack. They hadn’t spoken since he agreed to go with her, which was good, it allowed him to think things over a bit. He was stuck in a world of miniature talking horses with an Omnitrix on his wrist. It both terrified and excited him.
“Oh there you are!” a familiar voice called out. He looked off to the left, seeing the yellow pegasus from before flying over to them.
“Oh are you okay? Did that meanie Rainbow Dash hurt you?” she asked, looking him over before giving him a hug.
“Um... yeah I’m fine...” Jason said, not exactly sure what was going on right now.
“Oh! Y-you can talk?” she asked letting go of his head, hovering back a bit.
“Says his name is Jason.” Applejack spoke up, watching him closely.
“It’s nice to meet you Ms..?” Jason asked, looking at the pegasus, who hid behind her pink mane.
“F-fluttershy...” she whispered back, peeking out at him.
“Like I said, nice to meet you Ms. Fluttershy.” He said giving her his best smile.
“Oh um... it’s just Fluttershy... I’m not married...”
“Ok, Fluttershy.”
“Get away from her!” a voice suddenly shouted, knocking him out of his thoughts. He looked up, only to have something slam into his chest sending him tumbling.
“Are you okay, Applejack dear?” A rather high class voice asked, obviously a friend of the orange mare.
“What is wrong with you ponies? Attacking somepony for no reason!” Fluttershy scolded, moving over to Jason. “Oh my, are you all right Jason?”
“Yeah... I’m fine... just knocked the wind out of me...” Jason said groaning, blinking a bit.
“What’s wrong with us?!” Rainbow Dash asked, sounding indignant. “What’s wrong with you? That’s a changeling spy!”
“Rainbow Dash, that isn’t a changeling.” A new pony, this one purple, spoke up. “That’s a human.”
“Whats a hyew-man?” A pink pony asked, her mane looking twisted and tangled.
“You girls remember those creatures I told you about? Back when I went through that mirror?” The purple pony asked, to which the others nodded. “Well those are humans. Though that doesn’t explain why he’s here.”
“So you are a spy!” Rainbow Dash declared, glaring at Jason, who just rolled his eyes at her.
“I am not a spy, I don’t even know where I am,” he responded, glaring back at her. He glanced at the Omnitrix, relief filling him as he saw that glorious green glow.
“Oh yeah? Then how did you change into that weird bug thing?” she asked, flying up into his face.
“Back off,” he said, pushing her away. “I can turn into other things with this,” he said, holding up his right arm to show them the Omnitrix. “Like I already told Applejack, this is the Omnitrix. It allows me to turn into any number of creatures.”
“Do you believe him Applejack?” the purple one asked, her eyes locked on the omnitrix.
“Ah reckon he’s tellin’ the truth. ‘Sides, it’d be wrong of us to not give him a chance.” Applejack said, bringing a smile to Jason’s face.
“Ok, we’ll give you a chance, but if it turns out that you are a changeling, then I’ll send you to Tartarus myself,” the purple one said, glaring at Jason.
“You got it boss lady.” Jason replied with a nod, looking at her.
“Good, now let’s go back to the library, the princesses should be here shortly,” she said, starting to lead the group back into town.
Jason sighed, shaking his head before starting to follow the herd of ponies, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
****
If the day hadn’t already been weird, the sight of a town full of colorful ponies was something he’d never thought he’d see. They took one look at him and started to scatter, either hiding in their homes or behind the nearest object.
“Don’t mind them dear, they tend to overreact to new things.” The white unicorn informed Jason, noting the frown on his face.
“Yeah...” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Soon they came to a tree house, a literal tree with a house made out of its trunk. The most amazing part though, was that the tree was still alive. He walked inside, gazing around in wonder.
“Ahem.” the purple pony said, drawing Jason’s attention. “Now then, let’s get introductions out of the way. I am Twilight Sparkle,” she said, pointing to herself. “You’ve already met Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy.”
“Hi!” The crazy looking pink pony shouted, somehow appearing next to Jason.
“Oh god!” Jason shouted, jumping up, starting at the pony with wide eyes.
“I’m Pinkie Pie and it’s SSSOOO nice to meet you!” she shouted, striking a pose and throwing confetti out of her mane.
“Please excuse Pinkie Pie dear, she can get very loud,” the white unicorn said, walking over to Jason. “I am Rarity, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she said, holding her hoof out.
“I’m Jason, it’s nice to meet you too,” he said, shaking her hoof, making it a point to not use his Omnitrix arm.
“Well it’s nice to meet you all, my name is Jason Hughes,” he said with a nod before standing back up.
“Now that we have that out of the way, tell us more about that, what did you call it? Omnitrax?” Twilight asked.
“The Omnitrix.” Jason corrected, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“So it allows you to transform into other life forms?” she asked, starting to write things down.
“Yeah, I think the exact count was...1,000,911...no wait! Make that 1,000,913, since the Omnitrix scanned Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”
“T-thats a lot,” Twilight said, looking up from her scroll, her eyes a bit wide.
“Well at the most, I have about... 67 of those unlocked...” Jacob said, looking down at the Omnitrix.
“Hey, I got a question.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, an angry look on her face. “What do you mean by scanned me?”
“Well, when the Omnitrix detects DNA that isn’t catalogued, it scans it and adds it to the collection,” Jason explained.
“What's DNA?” Twilight asked scribbling away. She looked up after a few seconds, frowning when Jason didn’t answer. He just sighed, running his hands down his face.
“Ok, how the hell do I explain this?” He asked, leaning back on the wall. “Okay, DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the stuff all living things are made of. It’s so small you need special microscopes to see it. Basically, it’s the blueprint of an organism. Most creatures get half their DNA from their mother and half from their father.”
He couldn’t help but grin as he watched the pony scribble faster on her parchment.
“So now that Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s DNA are in the Omnitrix, that means you can become a Pegasus and an Earth Pony?”
“Yup,” he said, nodding his head.
“Ooh ooh!” Pinkie said, jumping up and down, waving a hoof in the air.
“Yes Pinkie?” Twilight asked with a sigh, looking at her hyper friend. Pinkie always had to interrupt when things were getting good.
“Since you got AJ and Dashie’s DNA stuff, does mean you're related to them? Cause if you are that means you're related to me! I can throw you a ‘Welcome to the Apple/Pie family party!’”
“Well... that’s actually a good question...” Jason said, looking at Pinkie, blinking a bit.
“Why don’t you try turning into a pony now?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.
“I’ll try,” Jason said, popping the dial of the Omnitrix up, turning it this way and that until he found the silhouette he was looking for. “Here goes nothing,” he said bringing his palm down on the dial.
There was a flash and the human was replaced with an Earth Pony stallion. He stood almost as tall as Big Mac, his coat matched the green of the Omnitrix, his mane and tail black. Resting on his barrel was the Omnitrix.
“Well, what do you guys think?” he asked, his voice in similar tone to Big Mac’s, looking at their faces expectantly.
“He does have a resemblance, Applejack,” Rarity responded first, looking Jason over. “I must say Jason, you make a rather strapping stallion.”
“Ah guess this does make ya an Apple...” AJ said, rubbing her chin, looking him over.
“How long do these transformations last?” Twilight asked, in an attempt to get things back on topic.
“About 15 minutes give or take. I’ll be able to stay transformed indefinitely if I can figure out the master controls,” he said, touching the Omnitrix and reverting to normal.
Twilight was about to inquire further when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna teleported in with a golden flash. Celestia was as calm as ever, though Luna was dressed in black armor, a warhammer on her side.
“Greetings Twilight, I apologize for being so late to respond to your letter but Luna decided to don her armor,” Celestia said, giving her sister a slight glare.
“One must be prepared for battle my dear sister,” Luna said, holding her head up proudly.
“Thank you for coming, but I’m afraid it was a bit of a false alarm,” Twilight said, smiling at her mentor.
Luna seemed to deflate, a pout on her face. “Are you quite sure Twilight Sparkle?”
“Well maybe not, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, this is Jason Hughes,” she said, introducing the human. Jason just gulped, hoping that this wasn’t going to kill him.
***
“So you're saying this Omnitrix isn’t a weapon?” Celestia asked, sipping at her tea. The past fifteen minutes had been full of tension, as Luna was ready to beat the poor human into submission. Most of the others had gone home, with the lack of any danger they didn’t really feel needed.
Currently, the four of them were sitting in the library, drinking some tea.
“No, its creator’s intent was for its user to walk in the shoes of other races. It’s hard to hate someone when you’ve been them,” Jason said, taking a gulp of tea.
“And what do you plan to do now?” Luna asked, eyeing the human warily.
“I don’t really know. I don’t have a way home or any place to stay,” he said, looking down into his cup and sighing. Just thinking about not being able to go home sent a chill
“I think I can help with that,” Celestia said, gracing him with a smile. “You may stay here in Ponyville, on one condition.”
“What?” he inquired, tilting his head a bit.
“You will study under my former student and learn what it means to be a pony, that is if Twilight Sparkle agrees.”
“Yes yes yes!” Twilight said, jumping to her hooves, dancing around in excitement. “I’m going to learn so much!”
“Well then, we shall leave you in Twilight’s capable hooves, Mr. Hughes. I’m giving you a big opportunity, please don’t disappoint me,” she said before she and Luna vanished in a flash.
Jason let out a sigh of relief, a smile forming on his face as he watched Twilight dance around. “Maybe... maybe this won’t be so bad after all...”