Chapter 1: The Greatest Discovery
“Hello..? Are you alright..?”
The words echoed inside his mind as he began to regain consciousness. He slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead as he tried to recollect what had happened. He then remembered a strange light, a loud boom, a dark forest, a lavender unicorn, with dark blue mane and tail with pink and purple highlights, a star on its flank and a dragon.
“Oh good, you’re okay!” the voice said relieved.
“Hng! What a strange dream…” he said. He then chuckled. “Man, you won’t believe this! I dreamt I saw a talking purple…” He opened his eyes as he turned towards the sound of the voice, only to stare into the eyes of Twilight Sparkle. “…unicorn…”
He gasped as he pulled away from the lavender unicorn that loomed over him with concern in her eyes.
“Whoa! Take it easy! Don’t pass out on us again!”
He slowly got a grip on himself as he calmed down and took in his surroundings. It was no dream. He was REALLY in a forest, with a REAL talking unicorn and a REAL small purple dragon. It was REAL! He slowly turned towards Twilight and looked at her with confusion in his eyes.
“Who are you?!”
“Not again…” the little dragon facepalmed.
“Ugh! I already told you twice! My name is Twilight, Twi-light Spar-kle. This is Spike.” She nodded her head over to her little assistant. “And now, if it’s not too much trouble, who are you?”
The creature looked at them both. He still couldn’t believe what he was seeing or hearing, but there was no point in denying it. He took a deep breath before finally answering.
“Alex… My name is Alex.”
“Alright then… ‘Alex’. It’s good to see you’re okay. You really had us worried.” She sighed with relief. With the name learning out of the way, now came question number 2. “So, what are you? You are most certainly not a pony.”
“What? No I… I’m a human.” Said Alex rather hesitant, never taking his eyes of Twilight as she regarded him curiously.
“Human?!” Twilight exclaimed with confusion. She had read all there was about Equestrian wildlife and sapient beings, but never had she come across anything like that. “I’ve never heard of a human before. Where in Equestria are you from?”
“I… I’m not from Equestria (wherever that is). I’m from Earth.”
“Earth? Is that like, a country? A kingdom?”
“No… It’s a planet…”
“Planet? WAIT! You… You mean… You’re from another world?” Twilight asked bewildered with hint of excitement in her eyes. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever believe she would meet a creature from another world. The mere thought of a world outside of Equus sounded so absurd, and yet here was the proof. This made her smile greater than Pinkie Pie.
“Another PLANET! This is amazing! You got to tell me everything. What’s Earth like? Are all humans there as hairless as you? Do you have a princess? Maybe a king? Or queen? BOOKS! Do you have books? Of course you must have books! Can’t think of anypony that wouldn’t be without books… Gasp! Gasp!”
“Twilight… Breathe…” Spike tried to calm down his overexcited friend while he glanced at Alex with an apologetic smile. Alex just stared and didn’t say a word.
“Okay… Okay… Sorry about that…” Twilight smiled nervously as she sat down across from Alex. She eyed him with broad smile, which made him somewhat uncomfortable for some reason. “Please Alex, perhaps you could tell us how you got here?”
Alex felt relieved. He was never quite sure as to how he got to Equestria in the first place. It was something he really wanted to know himself, and hopefully this unicorn could help him. He decided to start from the beginning.
“Well… I guess you could say it happened quite sudden. I was just walking along, minding my own business…”
‘This is SO amazing!’ Twilight mentally squeed as she couldn’t help but stare at him with fascination. Before her was a human, an alien creature from another world. ‘Imagine the possibilities…’
As Alex tried to explain about what had happened, she started to envision herself at the Trotholm Hoofbel Committee, presenting her latest discovery to an ensemble of pony scientists and press…
~***~
…Ponies applauded and cameras flashed as the Chairmare of the Hoofbel Committee, Joèquine Hasbro, trotted out across the stage towards the podium.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Tonight, our very special guest, Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, will present to us the greatest discovery in all of Equestria!” The very mention of Twilight’s name was met with cheers from her friends in the first row, especially Pinkie Pie, who bounced up and down with excitement. “And so, without further adieu , I present to you; Miss Twilight Sparkle!”
Cameras flashed as Twilight entered the stage. The Chairmare moved aside as she ascended the podium and beheld the vast audience. Calm and relaxed, she cleared her throat and spoke.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Today I unveil to you all the greatest discovery of our time!” She turned her head, her horn glowed and a large, covered cage suddenly appeared and was spotlighted. “Behold! The human!” She removed the coverings with her magic, revealing Alex as he stood there waving at the audience with a smile.
Gasps and awes were heard as cameras flashed and flickered. She smiled greatly as she was showered with applause and cheers.
“You’ve made a remarkable discovery my student!” Twilight turned her head and saw princess Celestia standing next to her. “I’m so proud of you!” she smiled.
Twilight blushed before suddenly feeling the hoof of the Chairmare tapping gently on her shoulder. She presented her with Equestria’s most esteemed award. She smiled happily as it was placed around her neck.
“Twilight Sparkle has won the Hoofbel Prize!”
Twilight’s smile was replaced with overwhelming joy as she began to hop around the stage exclaiming cheerfully as the Princess, the Chairmare and crowd looked on smiling.
“Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes…”
~***~
“…yesyesyesyesyesyes-YES!!”
A confused Alex and Spike could only watch as Twilight for unexplained reasons bounced and jumped around them in ecstatic glee. Luckily, she soon realized what she was doing, stopped short in midair before placing her hooves back on the ground with an awkward smile.
“Is… Is she okay?” Alex asked Spike slightly worried.
“Twilight?”
Twilight looked at them both. She then turned her eyes on Spike and grabbed him. “Excuse us!” She said smiling at Alex as she pulled Spike into the nearest bush. It all happened so fast that Alex only sat there blinking a few times, wondering what was going on.
“Ow! Twilight! What are you…?”
“Sssh!” She hushed Spike; poking her head out of the bush a moment to make certain Alex was still in view. Darting back down, she pulled Spike close to her face with a huge smile on her face. “Spike, do you realize what we have here?” Spike shook his puffy lipped head. “A human, Spike! An alien visitor from beyond the realms of Equestria! Do you understand what this means?”
“No…”
“Fame! Recognition! A chance for me to earn my place among the Greats!” She released Spike and clopped her hooves together. “Think about it Spike! Think of the possibilities!”
Spike looked blankly at her before starting to envision what she was thinking. A mental image of Twilight appeared in his thoughts as a medal was placed around her neck by the Chairmare.
‘Twilight Sparkle has won the Hoofbel Prize!’
“Nah!” Spike shook his head and reimagined it again, only now with Twilight in a karate outfit.
‘Twilight Sparkle has won the Hoofbel Prize for KICKBUCKING!’
‘Hiyaa!’ Twilight bucked the Chairmare beside her.
Spike snickered a bit. Then he had another thought.
‘Spike the Dragon has won the Hoofbel Prize!’ The crowd cheered.
“Thank you, thank you!” Spike happily said bowing to the applauding public.
“SPIKE!” Twilight yelled, causing the dragon to snap out of his little daydream. He looked at Twilight with the look of embarrassment on his face as she frowned at him.
“Hehe… Sorry…” he chuckled. “What were we talking about?”
“Sigh! Spike! Alex is perhaps the most important discovery of all time.” She then rubbed her hooves together as a creepy smile crept across her face. “He’s going to make me famous. You have to help me get him back to Ponyville. Once there I’ll make the preparations ready for our trip to Trotholm.”
“Trotholm?”
“I can’t wait to show them Alex. They’ll be thrilled!”
Unbeknownst to the both of them, Alex had been eavesdropping on their less-than-silent conversation. He had grown suspicious of Twilight’s lack of interest in his problems, and seemed to be more interested in him in general. He listened closely from behind the bush as Twilight unveiled more of her plan.
“He’ll tell me everything I need to know. I’ll present him to the greatest minds of our time. They would like know everything about him too. Every last detail...”
Alex felt a chill down his spine. He had seen and read this type of thing before. This pony was going to show him off like some captured rare and exotic animal. He would then be placed in captivity, hidden away from the world with electrical lamps being the only source of light. He imagined himself being poked and probed by pony scientists as they tried to figure out how he ticked. He saw himself being subjugated to some of the most heinous and demeaning experiments imaginable.
‘What if it wasn’t enough?’ he thought. ‘What if they…’
He imagined himself strapped to a table, as a pony surgeon slowly approached him. Clumsily holding a scalpel...
‘No!’ he shuddered. This was not going to be his fate. While Twilight was busy regaling Spike with her plans, Alex snuck off into the woods, taking his chances with local wildlife. ‘You may be nice and all…’ he thought to himself as he looked back. ‘…but I’m not going to be a lab rat!’
“…And that’s what we’ll do. I tell you Spike, this is going to be the best year of my life! Squee!” She smiled happily while Spike mentally groaned. While he was happy for her, it meant a lot work for him. At that moment he looked passed her and his eyes widened. He then looked at Twilight. His eyes darted nervously back and forward as he struggled on how to break this to her.
“Now Spike, let’s get Alex to Ponyville. We’ll have to be quiet about this. Don’t want anypony to get the wind of this before the unveiling.”
“I think that’s going to be a problem…”
“Of course it won’t.” Twilight looked at him puzzling. “What makes you think that?”
“Because…” He pointed. Twilight looked behind her and her eyes went wide as saucers.
“GASP! HE’S GONE!?!” She exclaimed, taking the words right out of Spike’s mouth. She dashed out the bush and looked frantically around for him. “WHERE DID HE GO? WHERE DID HE GO??”
“I don’t know…” Spike emerged from the bush and was instantly grabbed by Twilight as she pressed her panicking face against his.
“We have to find him Spike!!” She dropped Spike and galloped into the woods. “You look over there! Let me know if you find him!” Spike picked himself up, groaned and walked the other way while beating the dust from his scales.
*****
Somewhere close by, Alex ran through the dark woods. Being unfamiliar with his new surroundings, he didn’t feel at all safe. The foliage was so dense and thick he had trouble finding his way through. Every so often he would hear unearthly creatures howl or growl somewhere in the darkness of the forest. He could tell these woods were filled with dangers, but he pushed that thought aside. As long as he was far away from that unicorn, he was safe as he could be.
Stopping one moment to catch his breath, Alex turned to see if anyone or anypony followed him. Seeing no one, he was about to continue forward, when he suddenly saw Twilight ahead of him. Alex quickly dived behind a tree as Twilight looked for him in every direction. Unable to find him, she trotted onward, her horn glowing intensely as she used it as a searchlight. As soon as she had disappeared from view, Alex drew a relieved sigh, until a certain purple dragon popped out of a bush next to him.
“TWILIGHT! HE’S OVER HERE!”
As Spike tried to make a grab for him, Alex immediately took off, causing Spike to trip and get tangled up in the bush. As Spike struggled to wrestle himself free, Alex had long since disappeared into forest. He ran as fast as he could, knowing every stop he made would bring Twilight down upon him. He hadn’t gotten far when Twilight, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared right in front of him, smiling victoriously.
“GOTCHA!”
Surprised, Alex quickly made a detour, never stopping as he heard her run after him. Being more agile, Alex managed to gain a great distance by slipping through the foliage with barely a scratch on him. Thinking he had finally outrun her, he suddenly found her standing ahead of him, waiting.
“DON’T RUN!”
He ignored her and tried running another direction, only to find it too blocked by Twilight as she seemed to appear out of thin air. He skidded to a halt and backtracked, only to see Twilight again stand in his way.
“This is impossible!” He said exhausted. “How can you be…?” He looked back the way he came and realized that Twilight had somehow been able to disappear and reappear at will. He then looked back at Twilight and noticed her horn glowed even more.
“I’m a unicorn.” she said with a smirk. “I master nearly all forms of magic…” She suddenly vanished and appeared behind Alex, startling him so that he fell to the ground. “…Even teleportation!”
Alex trembled with fear. This pony knew magic! It was real and she was using it! He watched as she slowly trotted over to him, smiling deviously, knowing all too well she had everything under control. Alex bolted up and tried to run away again. He had to get away. He had to!
“Time to end this…”
As Alex ran, he suddenly noticed something strange. He was running, but he wasn’t going anywhere. To make things even more strange, his feet weren’t touching the ground. He then noticed he was completely covered in a strange purple aura.
“Do you like my levitation spell?” Alex turned and saw Twilight standing behind him. As she tilted her head backwards, he was suddenly pulled back through the air, stopping only a foot away from her. “It’s really handy in capturing and retrieving humans that try to get away.” she said smiling with an almost evil tone in her voice, causing Alex to gulp.
Twilight mentally giggled. She didn’t mean to frighten Alex, but since he was being so stubborn she had to put some mental fear in him to make him compliant. Just then, she heard Spike as he walked up beside her, having fought off the last twig.
“Mission accomplished Spike!” She said happily as Spike jumped on her back. Using her horn, Alex helplessly floated behind her as she trotted back to Ponyville. “This has been really fun, but you have an engagement with the Trotholm Hoofbel Committee. Hoofbel Prize, here I come!”
As Twilight skipped through the forest with Spike on her back and Alex in tow, Alex pondered on a way to escape. He looked thoroughly at his predicament. He was a few feet above the ground, with no way of getting down unless the unicorn’s horn gave out. He sat down (in midair) as he thought of a way to get out of this.
He then noticed a branch that hung pretty low from a tree they were passing by. He slowly reached out his arms and made a grab for the branch. He succeeded and held on tight as the unicorn continued on her merry way completely unaware. Alex sighed with relief, until he felt himself being pulled. He quickly wrapped his arms tight around the branch and held on as he realized what was happening. He was still in Twilight’s spell!
“Huh?” Twilight suddenly had trouble moving. It seemed as if something was holding her back. She tried walking forward, digging her hooves into the ground, only to find herself skidding backwards. “What’s going on?”
Spike scratched his head and turned around. He then poked his claw at the back of Twilight’s head to get her attention. “Uh… Twilight.”
She looked back and saw to her surprise that Alex was far behind them. He had his arms wrapped thoroughly around the branch and holding on for dear life as he was being pulled towards Twilight.
“Hey!” Annoyed, she used her horn, increased her magic and tried to pull Alex loose from the branch. Alex could do nothing but hold on as the branch slowly began to bend in Twilight’s direction. Using all her strength, Twilight gritted her teeth and pulled as hard as she could. “Let go!”
CRACK!
Alex winced as he heard the branch break off. The strain had been too much, and it had finally given way by her magic. Still holding on, Alex shut his eyes as he was being pulled with great speed towards Twilight.
“Wha… Waitwait! STOP!!!”
CRASH!
Seconds later, Alex opened his eyes. He suddenly found himself lying on the ground. The purple aura was gone and he could move. Felling a bit dazed, he slowly got up and saw Twilight lying on the ground next to him. Next to her was the broken branch. He carefully approached her. Her eyes were twirling and seeing stars as she giggled and babbled incoherent nonsense. She had taken the full impact of the tree branch, knocking her out and breaking the spell that held him.
He then saw Spike lying on the ground as he too had taken quite a spill. His injuries however were less severe and he was starting to wake up. Seeing his chance, Alex dashed into the woods.
“Ow… What happened?” Spike rubbed his head, wincing as it hurt.
*****
After wandering for what seemed like hours, Alex finally began to see light breaching through the forest. He then started to see a clearing. He picked up the pace and soon found himself out of the Everfree Forest. It felt good to feel the sun again, even though it wasn’t the sun he knew. He didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that Twilight and Spike were far behind him, hopefully giving up their search for him. As he took in his surroundings, he could just see a town not too far away. He smiled. Where there was a town, there would be people. People that could probably give him shelter and hopefully have someone or something that could help him send him back to his world.
He walked before finally reaching a road that lead straight towards the town.
As he continued along the road, it wasn’t long before he came across a fence. Inside the fence was an apple orchard...