//------------------------------//
// Surprise! 
// Story: Birthday Surprise 
// by Pony Authors 
//------------------------------//

	I walk down to the front desk to check my mail. I look through the pile and all there are are bills and junk mail. I groan and crumple the letters up and throw them into the garbage bin. 
It’s my birthday and all I want is for someone to remember it.
I walk past the manager, Clint, and he waves to me, “Hey Brant! Don’t forget your meeting on Tuesday!”. 
I groan and nod.
I take the elevator back up to my room, where my neighbor, Emily, is waiting for me.
Huh? What’s she doing at my door?
She waves to me as I walk up to my door. “Hey Brant!”, she yells from across the hall.
“What are you doing at my door, Emily?”
“Well,” she scratches the back of her head as she mutters, “I…kinda sorta lost Randy again so…watch out for him, okay? And tell me if you find him.”
“You lost your pet hamster again?”, I ask her, rubbing my forehead. 
She nods. I sigh and open my door. “Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for him.” 
“Thanks!”, she says, walking off to her room as I walk into mine and close the door.
I look across the room, my eyes land on the TV and I shrug. “Might as well watch some TV. I got nothing else to do.”
I switch on the TV, flip to the Hub network and the TV guide says that my favorite show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is on. The screen shows nothing but snow, for some odd reason. 
Hey! I can’t switch channels anymore! What the heck?
I mash the channel button on the remote over and over again, but it does nothing. The channel won’t change and the picture remains static.
The screen goes white and I stare at it, confused.
A familiar pink pony with a poofy mane jumps out of my TV and exclaims cheerfully, “Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie!”
“What the heck?!” I shout as I throw my arms up in shock, the remote flying out of my hand and hitting the wall. I point at Pinkie Pie, exclaiming, “You’re real?!?!”
She laughs and nods her head vigorously. “Well of course I’m real, silly!” She grabs my arm and pulls me towards the TV. “Now come on! It’s time for your surprise!”
“But- wha- you’re- huh?!” I stutter as we’re pulled through my TV.
I stumble and roll onto the floor as I fall from the portal Pinkie had mysteriously created and a headache forms in my head as I look around at my surroundings. I see haybales, a dirt floor and red walls surrounding me. My eyes almost pop out of my head when I see Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity, who are standing in front of me and staring with confused faces. 
I freak out and scream, trying to run back to the comfort of my own home, but I soon realize the TV portal is gone. “Ponies-- crazy-- … stuck…” I groan and collapse on a pile of hay.
I laugh to myself, “I… I’ve gone crazy! A grown man like myself who watches a TV show for little girls is bound to go completely insane, especially a grown man whose birthday people ALWAYS FORGET! But no, no. This is TOTALLY fine! It’s not like being surrounded by multicolored talking ponies is weird or anything!”
They all look at me appalled, except Pinkie Pie who’s smiling at me. 
I shake my head. “This can’t be real! You are all characters from a TV show, not real, living, breathing things!”
“Pinkie, Ah thought you said that one of your friends had a birthday today. Not this…thing,” Applejack said in her deep Southern accent.
I turn toward her angrily. “Did you just call me a THING?”
She smirks. “Yes ah did.”
I growl angrily and jab my finger into her chest. “I’m not a thing. I’m a who! And you are a pony, which is an animal, and from where I come from, animals aren’t sapient!”
She crosses her front legs and smirks. “Well, if animals aren’t ‘sapient’, then how in the hay can ah talk?”
I groan and rub my forehead. “You’re just a figment of my imagination. Soon this’ll all be over and I’ll wake up on my couch with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic playing on the TV.”
Applejack turns around. “Can a figment of yer imagination do THIS?” She then bucks me right in my chest.
Pain shoots through my chest. I fall onto the ground, groaning and clutching my chest. 
“FREAK!!” I groan, rolling around on the ground. “Okay, so this IS real…” I stand up, still clutching my chest. “How is this possible?” I look to Pinkie and realize something.
I point at her, asking, “You… you broke the 4th wall and brought me here, right?” 
She nods, vigorously smiling. 
“You...can do it again, right?” 
She giggles, nodding still.  
I smile. “Good.”



The mane six and I fly through the TV portal landing on my couch. I groan in unison with the others, except for Pinkie who I guess isn’t affected by the effects of universe hopping. I rub my head and look up seeing a furry face in front of me. 
I yelp, falling off my couch. Randy the hamster is standing on my couch edge staring at me. I groan and stand up, I hold my hand out for Randy and he jumps onto it. “Come on little guy. Let’s return you to your owner.”
I turn around before opening my door and point at the six ponies sprawled out on my couch and say, “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere and don’t touch anything!” I point to Pinkie Pie, “That means you, Pinkie.”
My little Pony: Friendship is Magic resumes playing on my TV screen when I open the door to leave.
I listen to Twilight talk to Spike. “I'm observing Pinkie Pie, scientific name: Pinkius Piecus, in its natural habitat."
“Hey! That’s me!” Pinkie exclaims and jumps up and down on the couch. I laugh as I walk out the door, closing it behind me.
I walk up to Emily’s door and knock. She opens the door and sees Randy in my hand and exclaims, “Brant! You found Randy!”
I nod, “Yeah.”
“Thank you!” She hugs me and kisses me on the check.
I blush as she steps away. “It was nothing. Here.” I hand over Randy and start to walk away. 
“Hey Brant?” She calls behind me. I stop and turn around. “You can stay for a movie or something if you want?” She asks me twiddling with her hair.
I shake my head, even though I oddly want to stay. “Sorry…” My mind drifts to the six ponies I left lying on my couch. “I have something I need to take care of…”
I walk into my apartment and Rainbow Dash gets in my face. I close the door and back up into it. “Uh…? What are you… doing?”, I ask her.
“Have you been spying on us?” She growls at me and points to the TV set still showing the previous episode I left playing when I went to return Randy.
“Uh…”
“And what are these?” Twilight asks levitating my MLP-themed t-shirts.
“Well…” I look around, nervous sweat starting to drip down my forehead. “That’s…” I sigh and look at the floor. “You guys in this world are not real and are characters of a TV show for little girls that teenagers and grown adults watch. Twilight, what you are holding there are products of the TV show made for fans like me and many others.”
They stare at me blinking.
I sigh and turn off the TV. I take the t-shirts from Twilight and walk into my bedroom, I stuff the t-shirts back into my drawer and walk back into my living room.
I look at them and sigh rubbing my forehead, “I told you not to touch anything, and yet you go into my bedroom and take out my t-shirts…”
Twilight looks to the floor ashamed of herself, “I’m sorry, sir. It’s just we were watching your… TV is it… and thought you were a spy. So I looked around searching for more evidence that could prove you as a spy.”
I sigh and shake my head, “It’s fine… it’s fine.” I collapse onto my couch and look at them all. “What am I going to do with you guys…”
“Oh oh oh! We can do lots of things together like throw a party, play games, sing songs-” Pinkie starts to ramble until Applejack covers her mouth.
I groan and shake my head, “Not like that Pinkie.”
Apple Jack removes her hoof from covering Pinkie’s mouth and Pinkie exclaims, “Okie dokie lokie, Brant!”
Huh? I never introduced myself.
“I… never told you my name was Brant.” I say to her.
Pinkie looks left then right, then whispers in my ear, “I just know.”
I shrug, “Anyways, I don’t know if I should go back to Equestria with you guys or not.”
“Well… it’s your decision…” Fluttershy says her quiet but still audible voice.
“Yes, dahling. If you don’t want to go back to Equestria you don’t have to…” Rarity says.
Either I stay here and have a terrible birthday alone or I go with them and celebrate my birthday with multicolored talking ponies.
“Oh what the heck,” I shrug. “Take me to Equestria.”
Pinkie smiles and we all gather together. She creates her portal again and pulls us all into the world of Equestria. We jump through the closing hole and land on the ground of the barn we were in the first time.
The ponies laugh smiling. “Happy birthday Brant!”, they exclaim as they hug me.
I smile and thank them.
This is going to be my best birthday yet!